The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest (Megaman Legends Arc)

[DededeCloneChris]

Shadow Wes cracked his fists. "Are you ready or what? I'm itching to beat that liar over there the more you make me wait."

All the Smashers glared at him before Rui began to speak. "And...I don't care where you came from as well. I heard that all your Pokémon can talk."

"I should have shut up..." Jigglypuff muttered as Pikachu glared at her.

Rui shook her head. "It's okay, Jigglypuff," she said, surprising the Singer Pokémon. "I like you talking rather than saying your name. To be honest, it's really impressive that all of you can talk."

"But you don't want to question us about how we can talk?" Lucario asked.

"Not even a bit...for now," Rui said. "For now, I just want to have Wes back to normal by defeating that shadow of his... He said all the truth Wes didn't want to admit, right?"

"...Pretty much..." Chris said.

"..." Rui smiled a bit with a chuckle. "I'm sure Wes will get over it in a few. But, please, defeat that shadow and the Charizard so he can have his past personality..."

"...You got it," Red said, making a fist. "If there's a way to change Wes's ways, I'll do it so he stops pissing me off."

Ivysaur snickered. "I smell RedXRui pairing here."

Squirtle chuckled. "Same here."

Red and Rui quickly blushed as the Pallet Town trainer looked annoyed. "H-hey, you better knock that off before it gets worse from here!"

"Hell-o?" Shadow Wes called. "I'd like to begin now if I were you!"

Rui looked serious. "Give him a lesson, will you?" she asked before going back to Silva and the fainted Wes.

The group looked at each other before nodding. It was a small matter of time before Red and Chris stood next to each other while facing Shadow Wes and Charizard from the other side.

Charizard chuckled as he stomped his way to the field. "Finally, you're getting what you deserve, kid."

Red glared at him. "I-I'm going to try to capture you this time, Charizard. I'm planning to achieve it for real this time."

"Ha! That's funny," Charizard mocked. "I was captured before, but I'm not going to let you do that again."

"We'll see."

Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum - Battle! The Boss of Team Galatic!

Shadow Wes grinned evilly as he tossed a Poké Ball. "Go, Ampharos!"

The Light Pokémon came out from the sphere. Seeing as Shadow Wes was its owner, Ampharos was shrouded in a dark aura. The Electric type looked angrily at its opponents.

"It's an Electric type, right?" Red said. "Pikachu and Pichu won't do much damage on them, and Squirtle is at a disadvantage."

"Don't forget Charizard," Chris reminded him. "Unlike Ampharos, he has his own strateguies to fight us without a trainer."

"I know," Red said. "In that case...Espeon, go!"

The Sun Pokémon growled a bit before leaping in front of Red.

"(I'm gonna have an Espeon, I'm gonna have an Espeon, I'm gonna have an Espeon,)" Red cheered in his mind.

The World Traveler looked forward. "Jigglypuff, go, please!"

The Singer Pokémon gulped a bit before leaping in front of Chris. Jigglypuff looked shocked before turning at Chris. "M-make sure he doesn't catch me or kill me, okay?"

Chris looked a little bit preoccupied. "I-I'll try to do my best. I'll stop him from capturing yo-"

"Ampharos, use Thunderbolt on Jigglypuff!" Shadow Wes suddenly interrupted.

Jigglypuff quickly turned around before she received a full impact from Shadow Ampharos's Thunderbolt. The Singer Pokémon yelled loudly in pain as the attack kept going.

"...RED, DO SOMETHING!" Chris yelled. "Ampharos is trying to finish her off with a single attack!"

"R-right," Red said before pointing forward. "Espeon, get close to Ampharos to use Psybeam!"

"Espeon," Espeon muttered before he began to run towards Shadow Ampharos.

"No way!" Charizard yelled as he flapped his wings and flew towards Espeon, starting to gather flames in his mouth to later use Flamethrower.

Red thought quickly. "J-jump over the flames and over Charizard as well!"

The Sun Pokémon lowered his head a bit before jumping over the flames and the Flame Pokémon himself. After passing down below Espeon, Charizard's eyes widened before landing on the floor on his feet. He turned around in time to see Espeon shooting off Psybeam at Shadow Ampharos.

"Ampharos, stop right there and evade the attack!" Shadow Wes ordered loudly. The Light Pokémon grunted in annoyance before stopping using Thudnerbolt on Jigglypuff before stepping back to avoid the confusion beam. Espeon grunted a bit before it landed and jumped back from the Light Pokémon.

"J-Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled as he saw Jigglypuff shaking herself. "A-are you okay?"

"Y-yes," Jigglypuff said before panting a bit. "I-I'm a bit weak, that's all..."

"(I'm worried now,)" Chris thought. "(What if she's ready to be taken out? ...I could use the Musician job in order to...)" The World Traveler nodded to himself before quickly changing to the Musician job in a fast flash of light. "Jigglypuff, please, hold on there!"

The Singer Pokémon managed to look forward and glare at the Shadow Ampharos.

Shadow Wes chuckled evilly. "My, how persistent is that rebel Pokémon you have there," he mocked. "Ampharos, use Thunder Wave to paralyze Jigglypuff!"

Shadow Ampharos obeyed as it gathered blue sparks on its little horns and its tail.

"T-think of something before I turn into the first toasted victim, please!" Jigglypuff pleaded.

"W-we're supposed to share ideas!" Chris yelled.

"Well, not now because I'm so going to get toasted!"

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "And I can't believe I lost some matches against you."

"I-I've got it!" Chris said. "Jigglypuff, use Rollout to avoid the waves!"

Jigglypuff gasped once she saw Shadow Ampharos shooting off electric waves from its head. The Singer Pokémon quickly began to roll on her place before accelerating towards the temple, narrowly evading the Thunder Wave attack.

"(She's still using Rollout,)" Chris thought. "Now turn around and go hit Ampharos!"

"Ampharos, be prepared to avoid that rebel!" Shadow Wes ordered.

Hearing this, Red decided to help Chris. "Espeon, try to stagger Ampharos by using Psybeam!"

"Me, get ready to use Flamethrower!" Charizard yelled, receving odd looks from everyone as Jigglypuff passed right in front of him. "...Why are you giving me those looks? You made me say that!"

Shadow Wes blinked confused before focusing on the rolling Jigglypuff. "Ampharos, avoid it!"

The Light Pokémon glared at the rolling puffball before it received a surprise attack from Espeon's Psybeam, directly connecting to its stomach. "AMPHA!" Shadow Ampharos screamed in pain before Jigglypuff slammed herself hard on the Light Pokémon, making it tumble back a bit as she stopped rolling.

"Why did you stop rolling? The attack could have gotten stronger!" Chris yelled.

Jigglypuff shivered a bit before some sparks emanated from her. The World Traveler gasped after remembering that Shadow Ampharos had the special ability Static. "I-I-I don't feel so good..." Jigglypuff stuttered.

Shadow Wes grinned. "Ampharos, regain your composure and prepare yourself to use Thunderpunch on Jigglypuff!"

Red though on a plan. "Espeon, stop Ampharos from hurting Jigglypuff by using Confusion!"

Espeon's eyes glowed before his jewel on his forehead glowed a bit while the Sun Pokémon glowed in a pink aura. However, it suddenly got covered by flames coming from Charizard's Flamethrower. Red gasped in shock after hearing Espeon screaming as he jumped out, shaking his head to regain his composure.

"Hey!" Red called out to Charizard, who closed his jaws and smirked.

"Oops, sorry," Charizard said sarcastically. "I didn't mean to alert you."

"Grr..." Red tightened his fists. "Espeon, use Confusion on Charizard instead!"

"Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled loudly as Shadow Ampharos began to run to the Singer Pokémon while its right (and small) fist got covered with blue sparks of electricity. The musician watched horrified as Shadow Ampharos lowered its small fist to use an uppercut on the paralyzed Jiggypuff, making her scream in pain as she was sent to the air before bouncing over the ground, moaning weakly. "Jigglypuff, please, hang on!"

Red looked at Chris starting to play his harp. Jigglypuff rolled herself forward to stand up, but she suddenly blinked as she heard Chris's harp echoing in the tunnel. She made a serious look before glaring at Shadow Ampharos.

"A cheerful tune that has equal to harmony itself..." Chris chanted.

"Absorbing Sonata!" Jigglypuff yelled as she spun on her right feet, calling forth a pink atmosphere that made Shadow Ampharos feel weird. Shadow Wes gasped once he saw 2 bright soul-like spheres coming out from Shadow Ampharos. The 2 spheres quickly went after Jigglypuff and Espeon, who looked up and got the glowing spheres that healed their injuries completely.

Chris sighed in relief as he put down his harp. "That should heal both..."

"You impudent..." Shadow Wes muttered before pointing forward. "Ampharos, prepare to use another Thunderpunch!"

The Shadow Nightmare looked at his own Pokémon doing nothing rather than standing still.

"Ampharos, didn't you hear me?" Shadow Wes asked.

The Light Pokémon slowly turned around to Shadow Wes. The Shadow Nightmare noticed that Shadow Ampharos's eyes were swirls that spun a bit.

"What the heck? When did you were confused?" the shadow asked before looking at Espeon. "Unless my traitor Pokémon's Psybeam confused you after it hit you..."

Red noticed that Charizard began to fly up around the tunnel as he targeted Espeon from above. Flames started to stick out between his jaws before he began to descend. "Espeon, watch out for Charizard! Use Confusion to stop him!"

Espeon looked up, his eyes glowing instantly to try and capture Charizard within a psychic field. Unfortunately, Charizard proved to be stronger as he released his flames down on Espeon, who quickly changed his Confusion attack on the flames to stop them from reaching him.

Red knew Charizard was going to burn Espeon if he moved down closer while using Flamthrower. Unfortunately, Red watched as Espeon got himself burned, his Confusion attack not working much as he screamed loudly in pain while Charizard passed right above it to slam his tail hard on his face. Espeon was pushed forward as he rolled recklessly, but managed to stand up on the ground as he glared up at the smirking Charizard.

"(You won't do that ever again...)" Espeon thought as he growled silently.

"Espeon, try to use Confusion on Charizard again!"

The musician noticed that Shadow Ampharos was still confused. trying to regain its composure. "Jigglypuff, lean to Ampharos and use Rest!"

"Lean to who?" Shadow Wes asked as Jigglypuff pouted a bit and floated towards the confused Pokémon. The Singer Pokémon winked a bit at it before landing, leaning herself to its stomach, and using Rest.

Shadow Wes gasped once he saw Ampharos being blasted off into the air, reaching its way to the ceiling by a half before going down and crashing hard on the ground. The Shadow Pokémon, still confused, seemed even more dazzled than before.

"...Dammit," Shadow Wes muttered as he aimed Shadow Ampharos's Poké Ball to call it back. "Ampharos, return!"

Pichu wagged his tail a bit. "D-did Jigglypuff beat Ampharos?"

"I suppose so," Mewtwo said. "Ampharos itself didn't have a good defense. Even with the Shadow Nightmare above its control wasn't enough to provide it with much energy to resist Espeon's Psybeam and Jigglypuff's CFS."

Shadow Wes closed his eyes at the Poké Ball. "Please, forgive me..." he muttered before taking out another different Poké Ball. "It's time for you to get revenge, Feraligatr!"

Jigglypuff gasped as a big light came out from the Poké Ball. The light itself landed right in front of her as she met a thick-scaled dark stomach from a hungry Shadow Feraligatr, who smirked down at her as it licked its lips.

"...H-hi?" Jigglypuff said horrified at the height of the tall Big Jaw Pokémon.

"Use Bite!" Shadow Wes ordered.

Jigglypuff quickly turned around to escape from the Shadow Pokémon, but it quickly took a hold of her by opening its jaws wide enough for Jigglypuff to fit in. The musician and the Pokémon gasped after Jigglypuff screamed even more loudly in pain as she pleaded for help.

"Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled.

"Spit her down hard, Feraligatr!" Shadow Wes commanded.

The Big Jaw Pokémon, with the Singer Pokémon in its jaws, smirked a bit before raising its mouth up to later descend them hard to spit Jigglypuff to the ground. However, the strength of the Water type seemed very strong as Jigglypuff easily went 5 feet down the earth. "Feraligator!!!"  the Water type said proudly.

"Jigglypuff!" Chris yelled worried before he noticed that Lucario instantly appeared by his side, holding a weakened and fainted Jigglypuff on his arms. The Aura Pokémon surely used Extremespeed to get her in time before Shadow Feraligatr could do attack her more. "J-Jigglypuff!"

The Singer Pokémon slowly opened her eyes and smiled a bit at Chris. "D-did I prove useful?"

"Y-yes, you did...now please, rest," Chris said with a sigh of relief. Lucario turned around to walk to the smaller Pokémon and leave Jigglypuff with them. "...Focus..." he muttered to himself before looking serious. "Pichu, go!"

Pichu gulped a bit as he ran to Chris's side, looking at the big Water type licking its lips a little bit more. "A-are you sure you're not sending me to my death?"

"I-I wouldn't do that, but you want and NEED to fight your own battles, right?"

The Electric type looked worried for a bit before his look turned in a determined face. "Okay..." Pichu said as he leaped to the field. "I-I'm ready, and don't let me die..."

"I promise," Chris said. "Pichu, use Thunder on Feraligatr!"

"Use Surf!" Shadow Wes yelled.

Unlike Squirtle's Surf, Shadow Feraligatr's Surf was completely different. Wate began to appear from underneath the Shadow Feraligatr's feet before it sprouted out from his sides until a big wave roared. Red and Chris gasped as Pichu and Espeon looked at the size of the wave while Charizard flew on the air to evade it.

"W-what do we do now?!" Red asked.

"Wish for them to get through the attack!"

Red didn't notice that Espeon quickly turned towards Pichu to carry him on his back. The Sun Pokémon glared at the big wave before he ran back towards the trainer to wait for the wave to crash down. There was the Big Jaw Pokémon's image coming from the wave; the same place where it last was seen.

And the wave crashed down, but Espeon instantly jumped over it to let the water wash up the feet of the others as he landed safely on the other side of the wave, Pichu sighing in relief as he jumped down his back.

"How come Squirtle can't do the same thing?" Red asked.

"...Blame Master Hand?" Chris responded. "Pichu, now use Thunder on Feraligatr!"

"Espeon, use Confusion on Feraligatr!"

The 2 Pokémon quickly looked at the Water type before both used their attacks (although Pichu had to run to strike himself with Thunder to cause more damage). Espeon asked himself why Pichu ran to lean closer to Shadow Feraligatr before Espeon used Confusion.

Shadow Ferligatr tried to step back, but Espeon's Confusion held him from backing away, this also allowed Pichu to successfully call forth a powerful thunder that struck down on him and the Water type. Shadow Feraligatr yelled in pain as Pichu tumbled a bit at the sides before regaining control.

"Hey, you better not forget about me!" Charizard yelled from above as he turned and dove right after Pichu, more flames gathering in the Fire type's jaws.

"Pichu, use Agility to land on Charizard's back!" Chris yelled.

Pichu gasped as Shadow Feraligatr struggled to shake off the Confusion attack. "A-are you sure?"

"I'm not trying to put you in danger!" Chris yelled. "Just do it, believe me!"

The Electric type shrugged in fear as Charizard released his Flamethrower. Pichu gasped and quickly used Agility to jump straight up and then direct himself over Charizard's back, evading the searing flames in the process. The Electric type suddenly found himself on the Flame Pokémon's back.

"What do you think you're doing standing on my back?" Charizard asked angrily as he flew over the battle.

"Now shock him!" Chris yelled.

Pichu trembled a little bit in fear before he began to release sparks into Charizard's back. The Fire type began to yell in pain as sparks illuminated his whole body, turning him into some kind of huge pirefly before he dove for the ground to crash his head into it. Pichu, seeing that Charizard got stuck in the ground, jumped off in a hurry to escape from him.

Espeon suddenly started to feel weak as his Confusion attack stopped working. Shadow Feraligatr roared in anger as he locked eyes to the Psychic type. "Time for a comeback," Shadow Wes muttered. "Go and use Bite!"

Espeon's eyes widened after the Shadow Feraligatr began to rush towards him. For being a big Pokémon, the Water type had a lot of speed as it easily reached Espeon to dive his jaws to him. The Psychic type quickly sidestepped from getting attacked, making Shadow Feraligatr to bite a small boulder that was behind Espeon. However, the boulder was quickly destroyed into crumbles before Shadow Feraligatr turned back to Espeon.

"Bite is his weakness, so don't stop until you crush Espeon with your jaws!" Shadow Wes ordered.

"(This is definitely not Wes...)" Espeon thought in shame before noticing the big Water type rushing towards him.

"Espeon, use Psybeam in its mouth!" Red yelled.

The Sun Pokémon looked a bit confused at this order before Shadow Feraligatr lunged at him with jaws wide open. Espeon glared at it before shooting his psychic beam that collided right inside Shadow Feraligatr's jaws. The Shadow Pokémon yelled in pain as the beam reached its throat overtime.

"Feraligatr, try to move forward to bite Espeon!" Shadow Wes yelled.

The Shadow Pokémon's eyes turned wild as it started to move slowly towards Espeon. The Sun Pokémon narrowed his eyes as it continued to use Psybeam.

"Espeon, hold your ground and keep using Psybeam!" Red ordered.

"Feraligatr, show that poor excuse for a trainer how things are done here!" Shadow Wes yelled.

"Poor excuse?" Red repeated. "Espeon, don't give up yet!"

The World Traveler looked back at Charizard. The Flame Pokémon had his head stuck on the ground as he furiously stomped the ground while Pichu looked back and forth between his opponents. "That's it..." Chris thought before he changed to his Scholar job. "Pichu, come back here!"

Pichu's ears perked up a bit before looking at the scholar. "A-are we using my CFS?"

"Yes, I do need your presence right over here," Chris said as he opened his book. "Come now!"

The Eelctric type looked back at Espeon and Shadow Feraligatr before he ran towards Chris, jumping over his right hand as the scholar focused magic into Pichu's body. The young Pokémon put its fists close to his neck before he got covered in blue sparks that came from Chris's right hand. His pages flipped wildly before pulling Pichu back as he aimed his sight at Shadow Feraligatr. "Pierce enemies with shocking and swift speed... Spark Bullet!"

"PICHUUUUUUU!!!" Pichu yelled loudly before the scholar quickly tossed the Pokémon bullet right across the field, going directly towards Shadow Feraligatr.

Shadow Wes gasped once the bullet came into contact with Shadow Feraligatr's neck. The Water type, being hit by Espeon's Psybeam, widened his eyes in shock (pun intended) as Pichu went through his body to deliver a great amount of electricity that shocked it entirely as the Electric type turned back to normal and fell down on the ground, a dazzled look on his eyes as he tumbled to the sides.

"I see staaaaaaaaaaars..." Pichu said dumbfounded.

Espeon stopped his Psybeam attack as he watched a still Shadow Feraligatr looking weird as his eyes spun a bit. The Big Jaw Pokémon then began to fall down forward, making a small tremble around the Sun Pokémon. This reaction made Shadow Wes grunt as he aimed a Poké Ball to return Shadow Feraligatr. "Feraligatr, return!"

Pikachu sighed. "We're doing well, aren't we?"

"I guess," Mewtwo said. "But we shouldn't look think we can win yet. Don't forget the fact the shadow has at least 1 Legendary Pokémon in his team."

"...Suicune..." Pikachu muttered.

"Exactly," Mewtwo said as he crossed his arms.

Shadow Wes stared at Shadow Feraligatr's Poké Ball and smiled at it. "This is gonna be over soon..." he muttered. "Soon enough, we're gonna kill the humanity..." He looked serious as he changed the sphere for another one that he tossed at the field. "Go, Jumpluff!"

The Cottonweed Pokémon playfully jumped on the ground after it was called out. However, the Grass and Flying type was covered in the same dark aura that Feraligatr and Ampharos had. Unlike them, Shadow Jumpluff looked happy.

"Use Giga Drain on Pichu!"

The scholar gasped once he remembered that the Tiny Mouse Pokémon was still dumbfounded after finishing the previous attack. A green atmosphere came out of nowhere as Shadow Jumpluff moved its cotton hands in some sort of dance before 5 green sphere came out of Pichu that went to Shadow Jumpluff, recovering health that it didn't have hurt.

"O-oww..." Pichu moaned as he regained consciousness.

Red looked at Charizard, still stuck on the ground. The trainer thought that maybe it was the opportunity to catch him. Looking franitcally in his belt, the trainer found an empty Poké Ball. "Now's my chance..." Red muttered before looking at Charizard to later toss the Poké Ball at him. "Go, Poké Ball!"

At that moment, Charizard's head quickly came out, pushing some dirt to his back as he shook his head. The Poké Ball, unfortunately, failed to hit his head as it landed right in front of him. The Flame Pokémon looked down and glared at the sphere before he crushed it with his right foot.

"H-hey!" Red yelled. "W-what do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm not going to let you catch me, that's what! I have everything set so you can't catch me!" Charizard yelled as he moved his right foot to turn the sphere into crumbles. "I should be the one asking you that, though!"

"Grr... (I still have 3 Poké Balls left. I already used one on Ivysaur, and I just lost one because of Charizard... Why didn't I buy more of them?)  Espeon, use Return!"

Charizard quickly turned around to see the dashing Espeon about to leap at him as he glowed a bit. The Flame Pokémon quickly gathered flames in his jaws before releasing a stream of fire that reached Espeon quickly. The Sun Pokémon's eyes widened before he screamed loudly in pain.

The scholar looked back where Pichu was. There was a terrified expression on Pichu's face as he looked at the happy Shadow Jumpluff. Seeing Pichu's body shaking, Shadow Wes smirked. "Jumpluff, use Sunny Day!"

Shadow Jumpluff said its name happily as it began to dance a bit before shooting above, from his top cotton head, a bright sphere that flew all the way in the center of the ceiling before shining brightly. Red didn't know what the attack meant, but the others did know.

Suddenly, a surge of fire power got into Charizard as he glared and increased his Flamethrower attack by a whole new level. Red watched terrorized as Espeon's screams got even louder than before as the Fire type stopped, smirking evilly at the downed Espeon.

"E-Espeon!" Red yelled, not receiving any response from the Sun Pokémon as it laid down on the ground, fainted.

Charizard extended his wings proudly as he fired up very strong flames. "This power...is...so awesome!" he yelled proudly.

Pichu looked frightened at the flames before his ears perked up at an order he barely heard. The order sounded like it said beam and sun, but it didn't make sense to him before he met face-to-face with a big beam of greenish colors. Pichu yelled loudly in extreme pain as he was pushed against the temple's right wall, followed up by an explosion that sent him blasting off to the air where he crashed right into the ground, moaning silently in pain.

"Pichu, no!" Chris yelled while Shadow Wes laughed. "You imbecile..."

"2 out, more rebels to go," Shadow Wes pointed out while Shadow Jumpluff cheered happily at its fast victory.

Lucario quickly used Extremespeed to get the 2 Pokémon in a second before he appeared right between Red and Chris, putting down the knocked out Pokémon. Red took a step back after he saw the fainted Espeon while Chris felt guilty when he saw Pichu.

"...Take both of them with Jigglypuff so they can rest..." Chris muttered to Lucario.

"Fine," Lucario responded as he grabbed both of them and took them to where the weak Jigglypuff was being watched by Mewtwo behind them.

At that moment, Pikachu jumped to Chris's right shoulder as Umbreon leaped in front of Red. "Can I please get some sweet revenge on that messed up Jumpluff?" Pikachu asked as he gathered some sparks in his cheeks.

Umbreon looked at Pikachu for a moment.

"He said he wants to knock Charizard down," Pikachu pointed out.

"Okay, go," Chris said. Pikachu smiled a bit at him before he leaped back into the field.

Red looked down at Umbreon. "I'll promise I'll do my best to save Wes..."

Umbreon looked back at Red before he nodded. "(Please, I want this to be over soon,)" he thought before glaring back at Charizard while Pikachu stood in his 4 paws, his body gathering some sparks.

Charizard relinshed a bit as he stared at the bright sphere on top of the tunnel. "Why can't I learn that move? I'd be unstopable if I did."

"Jumpluff, be ready to use another Solarbeam!" Shadow Wes ordered.

"Umbreon, use Confuse Ray on Jumpluff!" Red ordered.

"Pikachu, stop Jumpluff from using Solarbeam with Skull Bash!" Chris ordered.

"...HEY, why isn't anybody interested in attacking me?!" Charizard asked.

"Oh well," Chris said. "Pikachu, use Thunder on Charizard!"

The Mouse Pokémon turned to the Flame Pokémon before running towards him. Charizard smirked at him before he started to gather powerful flames in his jaws. The scholar quickly thought about another strategy.

"Use Quick Attack to get behind Charizard!"

Pikachu instantly reached Charizard's right side in a swift move, evading the searing flames that burned the ground a bit. The Electric type glared up at Charizard before he called forth a thunder that crashed down on both. Charizard stopped his flames to yell loudly in pain before Pikachu jumped straight to his face to use a quick headbutt, making Charizard back away a bit.

"Ugh, not bad..." Charizard said as he shook his head.

Shadow Jumpluff jumped happily before it shot a powerful Solarbeam right straight to Umbreon. The Moonlight Pokémon was a lot of feet away from the Cottonweed Pokémon that enabled him to dodge the beam by sidestepping to left before running towards it. Umbreon's eyes shone red as he shot black smoke that went after Shadow Jumpluff.

"Jumpluff, float up to avoid the rays!" Shadow Wes ordered. His Shadow Jumpluff jumped up to use his cotton hands to float up, evading the rays of confusion that went underneath it. "Now, use Giga Drain on Umbreon!"

"Umbreon, try to reach Jumpluff by using Faint Attack!" Red ordered. "(I know Jumpluff is high up, but is there any other way to reach it?)"

For his surprise, Umbreon jumped high up towards the Grass and Flying type, Umbreon's frontal body glowing a bit in a purple light as he rammed himself on Shadow Jumpluff. Shadow Jumpluff not only screamed, by Umbreon pushed it down quickly where the Shadow Pokémon crashed on the ground, screaming in pain a little bit more before Umbreon jumped back.

"Jumpluff, get up and use Solarbeam on Umbreon!" Shadow Wes yelled.

"(Wait, Jumpluff is still down...) Umbreon, leap to Jumpluff and use Confuse Ray!"

"(...Good idea,)" Umbreon remarked before growling and leaping right on Shadow Jumpluff. The Grass and Flying type gasped when Umbreon restrained it from getting up as he stared deeply into the shadow opponent's eyes, shooting smoke from his red eyes to confuse it instantly. Once his movement was done, Umbreon leaped back to see the confused Shadow Jumpluff getting up, its eyes spinning in confusion.

"Damn," Shadow Wes muttered. "Jumpluff, try to use Stun Spore on Umbreon!"

"Juuuuuuuuuuuuump..." Shadow Jumpluff said dazzled as it began to spread yellow spores...on itself, instantly paralyzing its whole body. "Pluuuuuuuuuuuuuf..."

"What the heck? Why did you paralyze yourself?" Shadow Wes asked. "Damn that confusion!"

Red chuckled at this. "This turned out better for me after all..." He looked at Ivysaur. "Can you learn Confuse Ray?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer...no," Ivysaur said.

"..." Red frowned. "And here I wanted to do strategies based around confusing opponents..."

"Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuse me for not appeasing your needs," Ivysaur said as he rolled his eyes.

"Red, focus!" Chris yelled.

"O-oh, right," Red said before looking back at the paralyzed and confused Shadow Jumpluff. "Umbreon, use..." Red thought about something as he looked at Charizard. "...Wait...why don't we..." The trainer looked at Chris. "Pss, Chris..."

The World Traveler looked at him. "Yes?"

"I think I have something in hands to take out Jumpluff faster..."

Back on the fight, Pikachu waited for orders as he dodged Charizard's dangerous Flamethrowers. "You little rat, stop moving around!" Charizard demanded between exhales of fire breaths as Pikachu glared at him and dodged the flames.

"Yes, like I want to burn into a crisp by you," Pikachu said as he rolled to the right, evading another Flamethrower. "Ooh, what's wrong? Can't you do something else?"

At that moment, Charizard dove his claws on the ground to lift up a boulder (half the size of himself), smirking down at Pikachu.

"...Seems you do," Pikachu muttered before he quickly dodged Charizard's Rock Smash.

The Mouse Pokémon noticed that Umbreon rammed himself against Shadow Jumpluff's back. The Cottonweed Pokémon looked absolutely helpless as his paralyzis kept it from moving, and his confusion only made matters worseas Shadow Wes urgently tried to snap it back to its senses. Pikachu looked confused as Shadow Jumpluff was being pushed to his way. The Electric type's eats perked up before avoiding another boulder from Charizard.

"This attack sucks for crushing sneaky targets like you," Charizard said annoyed before gathering flames.

Red's eyes looked serious after seeing Charizard gathering more strong flames. Looking back at Shadow Jumpluff being pushed towards Pikachu, the trainer yelled, "Umbreon, push Jumpluff to Pikachu!"

"(What?)" Pikachu thought as he gasped and looked up to Charizard's jaws. The Electric type quickly sidestepped from the way of the flames.

And for some reason, Shadow Jumpluff turned out to be the recipient of the attack.

Seconds before, right before Pikachu could sidestep, Umbreon used a strong headbutt to tumble Shadow Jumpluff forward to Pikachu. However, since Pikachu quickly sidestepped out of the way, Shadow Jumpluff landed on his previous spot before Charizard's enhanced Flamethrower burned the Cottonweed Pokémon greatly. Shadow Jumpluff, however, didn't even scream due to the fact it was confused at the whole event as flames burned its whole body.

Pikachu and Umbreon ran back before seeing that a shocked Charizard stopped his Flamethrower attack. He looked down at the soot-covered Shadow Jumpluff, its happy expression intact. "...Are you okay?" Charizard asked.

"...Pluff," Shadow Jumpluff simply said as it fell of his back, knocking itself out due to confusion.

"Jumpluff!" Shadow Wes yelled before grunting and taking out Shadow Jumpluff's Poké Ball. "Return!"

"Yes!" Red and Chris cheered as they both hopped on their spots.

"I do have to admit it was ingenius," Chris remarked as he adjusted his glasses a bit. "Taking advantage of Jumpluff's confusion and paralyzis that rendered it from moving, and thinking to push it all the way to Charizard's strong Flamethrower in order to obliterate it was very effective."

Red scratched the back of his hat. "Am I getting good?"

The scholar crossed his arms. "Possibly. I think you are quickly turning out better yourself."

"Would you stop that attitude?" Shadow Wes called angrily from the other side, receiving a glare from a mad Charizard. "It's time to use my strongest Pokémon..." he muttered with a grin as he took out a Poké Ball. "Go and punish those rebels...Suicune!"

The group gasped as a big light came out from the sphere, releasing the Aurora Pokémon on the field. Shadow Suicune, once looking at the Smashers from afar, let out a powerful howl that echoed across the whole cave.

"...Now I'm going to piss myself..." Ivysaur said with a gulp.

"Hey, shut up," Squirtle said. "So what if it is a Legendary Pokémon? We could still have a chance."

The scholar knew Shadow Suicune was going to be an even stronger foe to defeat. Thinking fast, he changed to his ISOKFMG job, taking out his odd-looking staff. "Pikachu, listen to me! Things are going to get harder so we have to use another CFS right now!"

Pikachu and Umbreon glared at the Aurora Pokémon, Charizard glarind down at them from behind. "(I'm getting a very bad feeling now,)" Umbreon said.

"We better stay careful. One screw up, and we'll be screwed over," Pikachu muttered.

Umbreon's ears perked up. "(Jump aside!)"

The 2 quickly avoided a strong Flamethrower attack from a furious Charizard. The Flame Pokémon stopped releasing his flames before grunting.

Shadow Wes chuckled after he looked at Charizard. Something about his look surely meant he had some sort of plan for the Fire type. "Suicune, use Blizzard on those 3 imbeciles!"

"3 imbeciles?" Pikachu repeated. "I thought there only 2..."

Charizard looked at the Shadow Pokémon gathering mist in its mouth. He quickly noticed that Shadow Suicune was facing him and the other 2 Pokémon from the corner of the tunnel. The Smashers got shocked looks. "I-i-i-is it going to freeze the whole portion of the cave?" Red asked.

"It is going to do that," Mewtwo said. "Everyone, get back and lean against the wall," he said. "That Shadow Nightmare is planning to freeze everyone in here."

The World Traveler and the trainer looked back at him. "W-what do you mean? Is the Blizzard attack really going to affect us all?" Chris asked.

"Suicune's powers have been increased," Mewtwo pointed out. "If it unleashes Blizzard, it'll freeze everything in its way."

"...Maybe I can..." Chris muttered before he began to spin his staff. "Pikachu, prepare to use Spark Wave!"

Pikachu looked back at him. "Are you nuts or what?"

"It's the only way to stop Suicune from using Blizzard!" he yelled. "Let's do this quick before we regret it!"

"Stop," Mewtwo said. "You 2 aren't going to make it in time."

"Watch," Chris said as a glyph appeared underneath him while Pikachu started to get covered in yellow lightning. "Tangible lightning, bring my enemies into a paralyzing circuits..."

"Use Blizzard!" Shadow Wes yelled, ordering his Pokémon to attack.

"Spark Wave!" Chris yelled.

Shadow Suicune instantly released its attack before a lightning fell down on it to later sprout into a big sphere of electricity that shocked it. The strong tempest of ice began to freeze everything in its way as everyone (including Rui, and Silva carrying Wes on his back) quickly ran back against the wall to prevent the attack from reaching them as they all covered themselves. Pikachu and Umbreon, however, didn't have the same luck as the strong sleet began to freeze their bodies slowly before they were turned into icicles of ice.

Something was wrong as Charizard noticed he was also being turned into a statue of ice. His feet began to freeze inside ice, and he panicked before pulling his tail to his chest to cover it with his arms and wings before he got frozen as well.

Red noticed that all the people in the group were close to each other. The trainer slowly removed his arms to look around the frozen tunnel. Now, everything was frozen except for the temple's sanctum inside.

"...N-no!" Red gasped after he looked back at the field. Everyone else removed their arms from the faces before some gasped.

Shadow Wes laughed with crossed arms before looking at the frozen Pokémon. "Okay, now use Shadow Rush!" he ordered.

For their dismay, the Aurora Pokémon didn't seem injured after receiving the strong electric attack from Pikachu and Chris. It howled a bit to the icicles before its shadow aura glowed darker than before as it began to dash very fast at them. As it stopped running in front of the icicles, it quickly covered itself in pure darkness as it easily passed through the 2 icicles, pushing Umbreon and Pikachu away to different directions before they slid on the ice floor while Shadow Suicune's aura became dim as it landed close to the entrance to the temple.

Unfortunately, there were no signs of responses coming from Umbreon and Pikachu.

"...They're not moving..." Rui muttered.

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "Suicune's Shadow Rush grew to a lethal level. The fact that it was already a Shadow Pokémon made the power of the Shadow Nightmare even stronger."

"You're saying Suicune turned...broken?" Ivysaur asked as he shivered at the tunnel's icy look.

"...That's another way to say it, but yes," Mewtwo said. "Pikachu and Umbreon couldn't stand against the attack. Add the fact they were frozen, and it turned out worse for them."

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Shadow Wes laughed. "And I haven't finished yet."

"W-what does he mean by that?" Squirtle asked.

The Shadow Nightmare looked at the frozen Charizard before smirking. "Hey, Suicune, can you use Shadow Rush at full potency on him?"

Shadow Suicune turned to the right to face the frozen Flame Pokémon. The Aurora Pokémon narrowed its eyes before dashing right towards the icicle. Its dakr aura glowed darker before it leaped at an insane speed, shattering the ice apart while landing a devastating blow on Charizard, who had a shocked look after his wings pulled back.

"...Y-you..." Charizard muttered shocked before he fell down on his face against the ice floor, shattering it a bit.

Red looked frightened after Shadow Suicune turned against its own partner. "W-why did you do that?" he asked.

Shadow Wes chuckled as Shadow Suicune turned to face them. "I did that so I could get a free spot for another friend I have here."

"A free spot?"

Shadow Wes replied this repetition by throwing another Poké Ball to the air, releasing a big light to the ice floor. Most of the Pokémon gasped after they saw yet another Legendary Pokémon on the field. "Say hello to my Entei."

The Volcano Pokémon was back, and it was covered once again by darkness; a different darkness that came from the Shadow Nightmare. Entei glared at the group with its yellow eyes before roaring loudly, shattering some ice around its feet.

"L-Lucario, go get Umbreon and Pikachu!" Chris ordered as he looked at the 2 Legendary Pokémon.

The Aura Pokémon finished his task in a second as he brought the 2 knocked out Pokémon to the other 3. Lucario looked worried at Umbreon and Pikachu before putting them close to Jigglypuff, Pichu, and Espeon.

Shadow Wes crossed his arms. "I'll wait for you to decide who's going to be my next victim."

Red noticed that Charizard was still knocked out close to the shadow. Shadow Wes turned at the Flame Pokémon's direction and chuckled, making Red gasp as he took out an empty Poké Ball. "W-wait, no!"

"Afraid so," Shadow Wes said as he took out an empty Poké Ball. "Go, Pok-"

The 2 trainers were about to toss their Poké Ball to catch Charizard, but suddenly, 10 Primids appeared all around the knocked Charizard. The Subspace subordinates turned around to see Charizard before they all carried him above them. The Primids didn't even look at anybody as a dark portal appeared right in front of them before they all marched inside in a hurry, taking Charizard along as the portal vanished.

"W-what the heck was that?" Silva asked.

"..." Shadow Wes grunted. "Fine, be that way."

"Did they just take him back into the Subspace?" Squirtle asked.

"I do recall Charizard saying he wasn't going to be easily captured," Mewtwo said. "He surely thought about all the possibilities, and he included the Primids so he could escape. I'm surprised you didn't toss the Poké Ball before he could get away, Red. You could have tossed it when he was being carried."

Red's lips twitched a bit before he looked down, putting the Poké Ball away. "Why did I have to stop..."

"I-it's okay," Chris said. "You'll have better chances the next time."

"AHEM," Shadow Wes called from the other side of the frozen field as Shadow Suicune and Shadow Entei got closer to each other. "I'm waiting here."

"...What now?" Red muttered. He looked back at Squirtle and Ivysaur. "Do you think you have a chance?"

"I..." Ivysaur looked at Shadow Entei. "...I don't think I have very good chances..."

"And Suicune plain scares me," Squirtle admitted. "That Shadow Rush attack is definitely severe on anyone..."

Mewtwo sighed before he floated forward to stand in front of Red. "I'll fight for now."

Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur looked surprised. "R-really? Will you fight as my Pokémon?" Red asked.

"Don't get it wrong," Mewtwo said as he looked at red over his right shoulder. "I'll attack by my own orders. You can tell me what I can't see, though. You're going to be some sort of second set of eyes for me."

Red blinked a few times before frowning. "It was just too good to be true..."

Squirtle saluted Mewtwo. "Then, good luck, and prevent us from stepping in front of those 2."

Chris looked worried. "H-hold on, I don't have any Pokémon left with me!"

"Ahem..."

The World Traveler blinked a bit as he turned around to look up at Lucario, crossing his arms bored. "...Oh, sorry," Chris said as he blushed a bit. "I-I didn't recall you, Lucario..."

Lucario sighed. "I hope you didn't forget me all the time before."

"T-that was just because I wanted to make Wes suffer for being cold," Chris said. "...But please, do your best."

Lucario smiled at Chris and pulled him under his left arm. "I'll listen to you, don't worry," he said.

Chris hugged Lucario tightly before his proud Pokémon jumped forward, landing some feet away from him as his hands flared up with aura.

Shadow Wes grinned at the sight of the 2 Pokémon. "My, this is surely going to get interesting now. I didn't want to lose my time with those weak-looking Squirtle and Ivysaur."

The 2 mentioned characters glared at the Shadow Nightmare as Red looked at him with a glare. "Don't you dare call them weak again," he said.

"Whatever," Shadow Wes said. "Entei, use Fire Blast on Lucario! Suicune, use Ice Beam on Mewtwo!"

[DededeCloneChris]

Shadow Wes grinned at the sight of the 2 Pokémon. "My, this is surely going to get interesting now. I didn't want to lose my time with those weak-looking Squirtle and Ivysaur."

The 2 mentioned characters glared at the Shadow Nightmare as Red looked at him with a glare. "Don't you dare call them weak again," he said.

"Whatever," Shadow Wes said. "Entei, use Fire Blast on Lucario! Suicune, use Ice Beam on Mewtwo!"

"Lucario, evade Fire Blast and use Force Palm on Entei!" Chris ordered.

"Mewtwo," Red began. "...Er...do whatever you please. I'll alert you from anything fishy."

Mewtwo nodded as he began to hover along the ground to approach Shadow Suicune.

"Don't let Lucario avoid the attack, Entei," Shadow Wes said. "As for you, Suicune, don't let Mewtwo avoid your attack either. Close in!"

His 2 Legendary Pokémon obeyed his orders as they both began to charge at the 2 Pokémon.

While this happened, Chris got a little bit confused. "That's weird..." he muttered. "I thought Kawashima was going to alert us that the Over Limit gauge was full... What happened?" He took out his DS to open it. Upon opening it, he stared at a blank screen. "..." He turned the DS on, but as soon as it turned on, the DS instantly turned off. "What?" Chris turned it back on before it turned off by itself. "...The battery is depleted..." he muttered. "Hey, you 2, I think the Over Limit gauge is full!"

Red got an idea. "You should use it right away so we deal a lot of damage!"

The 2 trainers watched as Lucario jumped over the Fire Blast's emblem easily while Mewtwo warped just behind Shadow Suicune after it use Ice Beam. The Aurora Pokémon quickly turned back, just before the Psychic Pokémon activated the Over Limit by saying, "Begone."

Shadow Suicune was then pushed to the air by the unknown force that covered Mewtwo. The Water type flipped in the air before landing on its feet, glaring eyes with Mewtwo as a rainbow aura surged all around him.

Mewtwo merely chuckled as he held out his right hand, instantly using Psychic on the Shadow Pokémon. Shadow Suicune's eyes widened after it began to float above the ground before being pulled into the air. Mewtwo, grinning a bit, began to slash the air by creating many Psycho Cuts that flew around the Shadow Pokémon by forming a sphere of themselves. Once Mewtwo had created around 100, he stopped slicing the air with his glowing fingers before holding out his left hand open at the floating opponent. "Slice," he simply said as he closed his hand.

The 100 Psycho Cuts suddenly stopped circling before all of them aimed at Shadow Suicune, instantly shooting off to it, cutting it from all directions as it howled in pain and fell down the ground, shattering some ice in the process as Mewtwo chuckled several times.

"I'm impressed," Shadow Wes said as Shadow Suicune slowly got back up on its feet. "I didn't know there was such an attack."

Mewtwo glared at him over his right shoulder. "Do not underestimate me."

"And don't that to me as well," Shadow Wes said as he took out an orange potion from his back. "Hey, Suicune, catch this!"

Mewtwo managed to identify the item as a Hyper Potion. The shadow trainer wanted to heal Shadow Suicune's injuries by giving it the recovery item. Mewtwo, however, wasn't stupid. The Psychic Pokémon held out his right hand wide open to use Psychic on the Hyper Potion to stop it from reaching the Aurora Pokémon. "I'm not going to let you do that," Mewtwo said.

Shadow Wes smirked. "Suicune, use Shadow Rush!"

Mewtwo quickly warped from behind the rushing dog before it could leap at his previous spot. The Psychic Pokémon then decided to slam down the potion on the floor so its contents could leak into the cracks in the ground, stopping Shadow Suicune from recovering. "That's that," Mewtwo said as he glared at Shadow Suicune. "Whatever you do, I'll evade it in time."

"We shall see that," Shadow Wes said as he made a fist. "There's no way the Savior of Pokémon will fall down before you."

"Savior of Pokémon...that's pure nonsense," Mewtwo commented.

"GUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAARGH!!!" Lucario roared as he landed on the ground and rushed at Entei with a glowing right fist.

Hearing the roar, Shadow Wes quickly issued orders. "Suicune, don't stop using Ice Beam to trap Mewtwo within ice! Entei, use Flamethrower all over Lucario!"

The 2 Legendary Pokémon obeyed once again as they began to execute their orders. As Red cursed under his breath for not ordering Mewtwo what to do, Chris pointed forward. "Lucario, use Extremespeed to get close to Entei, then use Force Palm!"

The Aura Pokémon glared at the Volcano Pokémon before it released a strong wave of flames. Due to the Sunny Day effect still intact, Shadow Entei's fire power was stronger than before. For Lucario, however, wasn't as fast as he easily and swiftly ran around the flames to later touch Shadow Entei's left side, the Volcano Pokémon getting a shocked look as he roared at Lucario.

"Get away," Lucario muttered before his right palm glowed on the big Pokémon, creating an explosion that pushed Shadow Entei back. The Volcano Pokémon roared in pain as it tumbled, but it regained its composure quickly to unleash another Flamethrower, unfortunately being too fast for Lucario to react as he got covered in flames. "GRRRRRRRRR!!!"

"Lucario, please, hold on!" Chris yelled.

Red had to help the Aura Pokémon. "Mewtwo, ignore Suicune and go help Lucario from Entei!"

The Psychic Pokémon warped to Shadow Suicune's right side to evade the Ice Beam attack. Once Mewtwo looked over at Shadow Entei, he held out his left hand to shoot a Shadow Ball that collided on its back to stop its Flamethrower on the Aura Pokémon. Lucario had tight fists by his sides as he looked a little bit burned. Opening his eyes, Lucario gritted his fangs as he looked at Shadow Entei before Mewtwo floated back to evade Shadow Suicune's Ice Beam.

"Are you okay, Lucario?" Chris asked.

Lucario nodded. "The flames were strong, but I can still fight," he reaffirmed as he glared at Shadow Entei.

"Good, now use Aura Sphere!"

The Aura Pokémon obeyed as he began to gather a lot of aura quickly between his hands. Shadow Wes narrowed his glare and pointed forward. "Entei, stop him by using Fire Blast, quick!"

The Volcano Pokémon began to gather flames before shooting a big emblem of fire that went after the Aura Pokémon. Once Lucario finished charging, he shot an Aura Sphere (half his size due to the damage he took) to stop the charging fire, instantly making a big explosion with smoke that forced him to jump back.

The smoke that came out from the 2 attacks spread all over one quarter of the field. Thinking quickly as Chris looked at Lucario, he thought something. "(I have an idea,)" Chris thought. "Use you aura to find Entei in the smoke!"

Lucario's body began to get engulfed with his aura as his eyes glowed yellow. The Aura Pokémon quickly found the Legendary Pokémon's dark aura before Lucario growled loudly.

"Use Aura Sphere!"

"GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARGH!" Lucario roared loudly as he shot a fast sphere of aura into the smoke. A big explosion came from within that pushed the smoke away, revealing a roaring Shadow Entei that got angry after the orb met its face.

Grunting, Shadow Wes turned to see Shadow Suicune trying to land an Ice Beam on the warping Mewtwo. Annoyed by the fact his Pokémon wasn't doing any damage, Shadow Wes looked at Entei. "Entei, forget about Lucario and go help Suicune by taking down Mewtwo!"

The Volcano Pokémon growled at the Aura Pokémon before it turned around to later rush towards the Psychic Pokémon. Lucario tightened his fists before he began to go after Shadow Entei.

"While running, use another Aura Sphere to hurt Entei!" Chris ordered.

The Aura Pokémon pulled his hands to his left before charging quickly a big Aura Sphere that he quickly shot forward.

"Oh, sorry, but it won't hit," Shadow Wes said. "Suicune, use Ice Beam on the sphere!"

The Aurora Pokémon stopped shooting its beam at the warping Mewtwo before quickly turning around to shoot the beam at the sphere. Lucario grunted as he saw his own attack being turned into an ice ball that fell on the ground before exploding in a blue burst.

Chris wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Oh god, the first 10 minutes of the battle and I'm already sweating in this cave of ice..."

"Hey, at least you're working," said Red annoyed as he looked away. "Mewtwo won't listen to me even if I caught him."

"Er, maybe you shouldn't try his attitude," Squirtle said.

"...I hate how powerful he is..." Red muttered.

Mewtwo, growing a bit angry, decided to warp behind Shadow Suicune to slice it with several Psycho Cuts. The Aurora Pokémon growled in pain before turning around and using Ice Beam. Mewtwo couldn't warp away in time before he got trapped in ice, a shocking expression apparent in his eyes.

Shadow Wes grinned. "Well, now you got him in ice. Now, before he escapes, use Shadow Rush!"

Red and Chris gasped after Shadow Suicune began to glow darker as it prepared to rush at the frozen Mewtwo. "L-Lucario, stop Suicune from using Shadow Rush by using Force Palm!"

"Entei, don't you let Lucario interrupt Suicune. Use Fire Blast!"

Shadow Entei turned to Lucario as it began to charge fire in its mouth. Lucario grunted but ignored the Volcano Pokémon as he began to run after Shadow Suicune.

"Can you combine Extremespeed with Force Palm? If so, use both!" Chris ordered.

Shadow Wes smirked. "Turn around and use the attack on Lucario instead!"

Lucario obeyed Chris as he instantly appeared at Shadow Suicune's right side. However, he didn't see the Aurora Pokémon turning to him before leaping with an insane speed as it was completely covered in darkness. Lucario roared loudly in pain as he was sent to the air before a big Fire Blast attack came from down below him, exploding right after touching his back. "GUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGH!!!" Lucario roared loudly before he crashed down on the ice floor, shattering most of it with his weight.

"L-Lucario!" Chris yelled horrified. "C-can you stand up?"

"GuuuuuuuuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHH!!!" the Aura Pokémon responded as the aura in his body suddenly became a lot bigger as it flared up in rage. Lucario quickly stood up as his appendages began to move up by the flaring aura in his body. His red eyes glared at the 2 Legendary Pokémon before Mewtwo managed to shatter the ice that froze him.

Rui and Silva got surprised by the aura that illuminated the whole cave around them. "W-wow, look at the size of that blue fire..." Silva said in awe.

Chris smiled a bit. "Lucario's aura was pushed to the limit now... But...it worries me." Chris rubbed his chin. "The fact he was quickly pushed to the limit that fast worries me..."

"That means his brute force became even more dangerous, right?" Red asked.

"Yes," Chris said. "Lucario, use Aura Sphere at full potency on Entei!"

"Full potency?" Shadow Wes repeated. "Suicune, Entei, use Ice Beam and Fire Blast respectively!" The trainer then noticed that both of his Pokémon were glowing a bit in another aura. "What?"

Shadow Wes looked to his right where Mewtwo had both hands holding out towards the 2 Legendary Pokémon. "Lucario, use your aura now," Mewtwo said. "I'll hold them at bay so you attack them with all your forces."

"Thanks," Lucario said as he instantly made a huge Aura Sphere that covered half of his whole body. "GUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!" he roared loudly as helet the huge Aura Sphere get blasted off right on the trapped Volcano Pokémon. Shadow Entei met a huge explosion that shattered the ice around it as it roared loudly in pain to the ceiling. As smoke covered it, Lucario growled at Shadow Suicune.

"This time, use your own fists to deal massive damage on Suicune! Use Extremespeed!" Chris yelled.

The Aura Pokémon nodded before he instantly appeared besides the Aurora Pokémon, using an uppercut flaring with a big amount aura that sent Shadow Suicune to the air, almost reaching the rock ceiling as Lucario did a high jump and delivered another uppercut on its stomach. Shadow Suicune coughed in pain before Lucario grabbed Shadow Suicune's upper right foot to pull it down hardly, making it crash into the ground before the Aura Pokémon shot several but small Aura Spheres down, creating small explosions that quickly grew in size as he landed back on the ice floor, shattering it with his feet.

"Someone's on steroids," Squirtle began as he smiled a bit at the battle. "Aura steroids. Get it?"

"Good one," Ivysaur said as he low-fived Squirtle while Red frowned at the joke.

Shadow Suicune grunted as it slowly got back up on its feet. The Aura Pokémon took a fighting stance as he showed his sharp fangs as it. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." Lucario grunted as he made fists at his sides. "GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"

Shadow Wes grunted a bit. He didn't expect Lucario to that kind of damage on Shadow Suicune. "Dammit, and when I was thinking I could win... No, no, no! I need to concentrate..." He looked at Shadow Entei. "Entei, try to use Fire Blast on Lucario!"

"Mewtwo, I don't care what you say but stop Entei from interrupting Lucario!" Red yelled.

The Psychic Pokémon frowned at the order as he floated quickly towards the Volcano Pokémon. Upon standing close, Mewtwo's eyes glowed before shooting some sparkling lights that went into Shadow Entei's eyes. The Fire type felt weird before shaking its head to use Fire Blast. However, instead of fire coming out, a cough was released.

"Did that thing just use Disable?" Shadow Wes asked. "This is getting really annoying now... Entei, use Flamethrower on Mewtwo!"

At that moment, the shining light on top of the tunnel disappeared, making fire attacks less powerful but making water attack return to their normal power.

"And now you're doing this to me?" Shadow Wes asked. "Entei, use Flamethrower on Mewtwo!"

"Lucario, use as many Force Palms as you can use on Entei!" Chris ordered.

The Aura Pokémon growled loudly before he leaped towards Shadow Entei. Before the Volcano Pokémon could use its attack, his face met a flurry of Force Palms that sent explosions all over its face, yelling in pain as Lucario roared. "GUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!"

Shadow Entei suddenly felt sparks emanating from its body. One of the many Force Palms of Lucario surely inflicted paralyzis on it. Shadow Wes, seeing this, took out a yellow container; a Parlyz Heal. "Entei, use this!"

As soon as he tossed the item, it was instantly pulled down at the ice floor. Shadow Wes grunted loudly as he looked over at the glowing hand of Mewtwo. The Psychic Pokémon grinned a bit at him before focusing his attention on Shadow Suicune by tossing a fully charged Shadow Ball, creating an explosion that pushed the Aurora Pokémon back.

Rui sighed in relief. "At this rate, you're going to defeat him..."

"I wish this keeps up like this..." Red muttered. "He could pull out some sort of dirty trick..."

The World Traveler watched as Lucario stopped his flurry of Force Palms before sending a strong fist on Shadow Entei's face, pushing him some feet as he shook a bit thanks to the paralyzis. The Volcano Pokémon gathered more flames in its mouth before releasing a stream of fire at the Aura Pokémon, who grunted loudly before shooting a huge Aura Sphere.

Chris gasped. "W-wait, I didn't tell you t-"

A big explosion came after the 2 attacks collided with each other. The explosion was so big that it easily reached both Lucario and Shadow Entei. The 2 Pokémon were pushed far away from each other as they both rolled recklessly on the shattered ice before stopping. The World Traveler found his Pokémon unable to attack anymore.

"L-LUCARIO!" Chris yelled. "Lucario, are you okay? Lucario!"

"...Sorry..." Lucario muttered as his big aura began to shrink into his body. "...I...should had waited for your next order... I could have finished Suicune that way..."

"What the hell? Entei!" Shadow Wes yelled from the other side as he looked at his knocked out Pokémon behind him. "Entei, get up and attack Mewtwo!"

The Volcano Pokémon laid down on the floor as it grunted weakly. Its eyes opened a bit to look at his shadow trainer before its head fell down, a signal to indicate it got knocked out.

Shadow Wes looked around to find and use a Revive, but he seemed desperate as he didn't find mentioned item. "Dammit, why the hell didn't I re-stock items? I have 2 Hyper Potions but they won't help! Entei, return!" Shadow Wes yelled angrily as he returned Entei to its Poké Ball. "You did well... Now wish for us to terminate those rebels,"  he said to the sphere before grunting and looking back at the fight, watching Chris returning Lucario to his Poké Ball in time.

"This is what happens when Pokémon act on their own, then? This is horrible..." Chris looked at Lucario's Poké Ball. "...Please, rest for now," he muttered. "...You did really well out there, Lucario..."

Focusing back, Shadow Wes pointed forward. "Suicune, use Shadow Rush on Mewtwo and don't stop until you land a hit on him!" He looked angrily at Red and Chris. "Why the hell are you saying those things to him?" Shadow Wes asked.

The World Traveler glared at the Shadow Nightmare. "I'm telling Lucario those things because I care a lot about him! He's my very first Pokémon!"

"Nonsense," Shadow Wes muttered. "There's no way you like Pokémon as much as I do."

"Y-you're wrong!" Red yelled. "We care a lot about all our Pokémon because we worry about them!"

"Like I'm going to believe you," Shadow Wes said. "You people only hide your true motives under lies so you can later abuse your Pokémon. I'm going to punish you for doing that filthy feeling!"

Rui shook her head. "This isn't just like Wes at all. He wouldn't say such things before."

"I remember that the Shadow Nightmare tells only truths that its victim hide," Chris said, recalling Shadow Lucas. "He's saying all the things Wes wanted to say aloud to the people he met. We're not like the words his shadow said, but what he yelled were truths he tried to conceal..."

The girl grunted a bit before looking back at the real Wes as Silva stood close to him. "...Wes, please, wake up..."

Back on the battle, Mewtwo warped in time to avoid Shadow Suicune's Shadow Rush as it leaped quickly many feet away from him. The Psychic Pokémon quickly shot a fully charged Shadow Ball at the dark Pokémon.

However, something went wrong as Shadow Suicune swiftly turned to the ball and leaped straight into it, making it vanish upon contact as Mewtwo looked a bit shocked. "(I should have noticed before...)" Mewtwo thought as he warped away from the leaping Shadow Pokémon. "(The Shadow Rush move not only makes its user powerful, but when the aura glows darker, it creates a defensive shield underneath it to protect its user...)"

Mewtwo managed to teleport away in time to avoid another rushing attack from Shadow Suicune. Soon, Mewtwo found himself teleporting almost all around the field helplessly as the Shadow Pokémon tried to land a blow. Red knew well that Mewtwo would eventually tire himself out by using Teleport too much to evade Shadow Rush. "W-we have to do something or else Mewtwo's going to get hit!" Red yelled.

"I'm out of Pokémon for real this time..." Chris said ashamed as he looked at the group of fainted Pokémon behind him. "I'm helpless now..."

"If only we had more Pokémon to help Mewtwo..." Squirtle said.

"I guess we could give him a hand if we had more Pokémon with us..." Ivysaur said.

Red, Chris, Rui, and even Silva looked at the 2 Pokémon. Their looks turned into long stares as Mewtwo evaded every single Shadow Rush attack.

"...Duh!" Squirtle said as he rolled his eyes. "We're Pokémon ourselves. We can help Mewtwo.

Ivysaur frowned. "Gosh, why didn't we see that before?" He looked up at Red. "What are your orders, captain?"

Red didn't know if it was a good idea to send either Squirtle or Ivysaur out to the battle. Seeing as Shadow Suicune traveler far distances along the ground (that was before ice before it eventually shattered by the Aurora Pokémon's landing points) at a fast speed, there were small odds to help Mewtwo if he put his own Pokémon in battle.

"You know what?" Ivysaur began as he leaped in front of Red. "I'll fight if you're going to stare at us odd."

Red gasped. "W-wait, I don't know if it's such a good idea, Ivysaur!"

"Look at Mewtwo if you can spot him!" Ivysaur yelled as Shadow Suicune leaped around the field, trying to push Mewtwo with its dark power. "He's going to be all day doing that if we don't interfere!"

"Let me think about an idea!" Chris said as he changed to his Scholar job. "Using the increased IQ of this job, I will surely find the most logical attack to help Mewtwo... Um..."

A moment of silence followed as the battle kept going.

"...I need a good idea, mind!" Chris yelled to himself. "Ugh, I cannot believe I cannot find an effective attack... (And now I am starting to have this weird feeling inside my head!)"

"(What weird feeling is that?)" Red, Squirtle, and Ivysaur asked.

The scholar noticed that time itself stopped in the tunnel. The battle, the people, and the breathing of the Pokémon came to a sudden halt. The World Traveler recognized the same feeling he had been having before. It indicated that surely...

Chris and another Smasher could use a new CFS.

"(...Red...)" Chris trailed off.

"(What?)" Red asked.

"(...It is time for us to use our CFS...)"

"(What? Isn't that attack the same one Pichu told me about?)" Ivysaur asked.

"(He told you 2? Well, it is,)" Chris said. "(We have understood each other so well that our partnership level reached its maximum.)"

"(I see...)" Red chuckled. "(To be honest, I grew very fond of you, Chris. When we got here, I started to know you a little bit better.)"

"(Same here,)" Squirtle said.

"(Glad I did the same here as well,)" Ivysaur said.

Chris chuckled heartily. "(Well then, shall we go on and see what we can...)"

"(...I think I know why you stopped talking,)" Red said.

"(What is this?)" Chris asked. "(I cannot just see one combined attack, but two instead...)"

"(Why would that be?)" Squirtle asked.

"(Maybe...)" Red thought for a moment. "(There are 2 attacks because of you and Ivysaur.)"

"(So we like have a different attack for each other?)" Ivysaur asked.

"(It does make sense when you put it that way,)" Chris said. "(The fact that you 2 are not with Charizard makes it obvious enough. Even if Charizard is not here, that would mean you 3 have all different attacks.)"

"(Which means we can unleash strong attacks on our own,)" Squirtle said.

"(Well, that is my closest theory, anyway...)"

Red grunted a bit. "(H-hey, let's not stay in this freaky conversation any longer,)" he said. "(If you 3 forgot, Mewtwo's in trouble.)"

"(You are right,)" Chris said. "(We must help Mewtwo before he suffers the consequences.)"

"(Heheh, I'm the one in the field. Do you know what that means?)" Ivysaur asked to Squirtle.

"(...You get to use your CFS first...)" Squirtle muttered annoyed.

"(Exactly, turtle guy,)" Ivysaur chimed happily.

"(Oh brother, I don't understand your little rivalry between you 2 at all...)" Red said with a sigh.

"(It is...mutual, I think,)" Chris said.

Pokémon Colosseum - Friendly Battle

The 4 snapped out from their conversation as they all looked forward. "Ivysaur, be prepared when I tell you so!" Red ordered.

"Righto," Ivysaur said as he looked everywhere to spot Mewtwo.

Hearing their order, Shadow Wes grunted. "What, you still have more Pokémon left with you, pathetic excuse for a trainer?" He chuckled. "Well, it won't make that much of a difference 'cuz the battle is soon to be over with."

Red adjusted his cap. "Wow, how amusing. I was thinking the same thinking the same thing as you."

Shadow Wes narrowed his eyes at him. "What the heck do you intend to mean with that?"

"This," Chris began as his book glowed in a bright yellow light while Ivysaur narrowed his glare. "O small but mighty thunder, encase these vines with thy shocking properties..."

Ivysaur grinned as he studied Shadow Suicune's moves. The Shadow Pokémon leaped from side to side as it tried to deliver a severe blow on Mewtwo.

"Ivysaur, prepare to extend your vines forward to trap Suicune, okay?" Red asked, receiving a nod from Ivysaur as the trainer looked back to see a dark presences leaping north from the south. "Now, Ivysaur, use Electro-Whip!"

"Go!" Ivysaur yelled as his vines came out from underneath his flower's bulb. The vines that came out quickly began to cover themselves with a layer of electricity that emanated many sparks out. The Seed Pokémon's reached all the way across the field before Shadow Suicune came leaping from the side of the temple, accidentally letting itself touch the electric vines.

"W-what the..." Shadow Wes took a step back.

In an instant, Shadow Suicune's Shadow Rush ended as its normal dark aura turned dim. The Aurora Pokémon looked shocked as the vines began to wrap all around itself before it got completely covered. Shadow Suicune howled loudly before Ivysaur, grinning, released a great amount of electricity that turned the Legendary Pokémon into some sort of blinding, flashing Pokémon light as sparks flew out from all its directions.

New ability learned! Electro-Whip!

Traps foes within shocking vines that greatly deliver a big amount of volts through them once the targets are completely wrapped. Deals a great amount of electric damage to the targets, and may also paralyze them with big chances of success.

As Ivysaur kept using his attack, Red spotted a tired Mewtwo warping in front of him. "Mewtwo, are you feeling okay?" Red asked.

Mewtwo panted a bit. "I have to get used to warp a lot around before dodging those attacks..." He grunted a bit. "I must train very soon so I can fight better. It's not like these is someone else out there who can teleport that many times like me."

"Do you wanna let me take over your place, then?" Squirtle offered.

Mewtwo thought for a moment. "...Do it so I can rest," he said with a sigh. "My psychic powers aren't feeling well after abusing Teleport so much..."

As the big Pokémon floated behind Red, Squirtle wagged his tail a bit to the sides before leaping into the field.

Ivysaur grunted a bit. "Darn it, this is all I can do for now..." he said before his vines stopped releasing electricity before they retreated underneath his flower's bulb.

"But look at that," Squirtle said as he looked at Shadow Suicune. "Seems you paralyzed it."

Shadow Wes grunted as Shadow Suicune shook itself. The electric made it get paralyzed. Grunting, the Aurora Pokémon glared at its small prey in front of it.

"What do you know?" Chris asked as his book's yellow glow turned blue. "We still have another CFS left."

Red chuckled before pointing forward. "Squirtle, are you ready for the next attack?"

"Always," Squirtle said as he grinned at Shadow Suicune.

Chris focused his magic as the book's pages flipped wildly to every side. "O subtle but pacific ice, bring forth your effects after transparent water touches thy enemies..."

Red pointed forward at the paralyzed Shadow Suicune. "Now, Squirtle, use Stalag-ice Gun!"

"Stalag-ice Gun?" Shadow Wes asked before pointing forward. "Suicune, use Blizzard before whatever attack comes to you!"

Shadow Suicune obeyed and tried to use Blizzard. Unfortunately for it, the paralyzys proved to be a real hindrance as its mouth stunned a bit, preventing it from executing the attack before it watched Squirtle using what looked to be a normal Water Gun attack that sprayed all over itself. Shadow Suicune looked confused at this since it didn't get hurt for a bit.

"...That was it?" Shadow Wes asked. "You...wet Suicune? What kind of joke is this?"

"Did you forget the fact I said the attack would bring forth its effects after the water touched its enemies?" Chris asked.

Suddenly, the water that fell down on Shadow Suicune shone brightly as icicles sprouted out, impaling the Aurora Pokémon's stomach as it howled in pain and jumped away from the ice. However, there was more water on its back that quickly fell down around it and called forth icicles that instantly sprouted out after the wate touched the ground. Shadow Suicune howled in more pain as it tried to move. The paralyzis, however, restrained it from moving as the icicles continued to hurt it even more.

New Ability Learned! Stalag-ice Gun!

Water is sprayed around the enemy before icicles sprout out, damaging all foes within range. Deals great ice damage to the enemies.

Shadow Wes began to grunt annoyed. "H-hey, get the hell out of those icicles, Suicune! Ignore the paralyzis and jump away!"

His Shadow Pokémon grunted in pain before it managed to jump at the side, his stomach already having enough damage by the icicles that remained there on their places.

"What? It's not enough?" Red asked.

Chris grunted. "I thought it was going so easy to be true," he said. "If there was another way to make our attacks stronger..."

"What about the stickers?" Squirtle suddenly asked. "We haven't used them yet, right?"

"...But of course," Red said as he took out his Trophy Stand. "Hey, why do my Pokémon have to share the same stand? It limits them from growing even stronger."

"Blame that to Master Hand as well?" Chris asked as he took out a handful of stickers; every single one that he had obtained. "Let us see... Oh, look, I have some of the stickers that Jirachi gave me during the Olympic Games." He picked the Squirtle sticker. "According to my book, it says here this sticker gives Squirtle's water power a boost of 41."

Squirtle blinked at his sticker. "Hey, when did I do a pose like that?"

"41 is a big number, right?" Red asked.

Squirtle suddenly hopped in his place. 'S-stick it, stick it, stick it!" he pleaded.

"It's size is medium, so it should be 2," Chris said as he gave the sticker to Red, carefully putting it in the trophy stand.

The Tiny Turtle Pokémon suddenly felt a surge of power running through his body. He stood still for a moment before looking pleased at Red. "I have my own water steroids now."

"Will you just knock it off with those weird drugs?" Red asked, receiving shocked looks from Chris and Ivysaur. "...I know what to do to protect myself. Knowledge is a good defense..."

Chris shrugged as he looked at the stickers. "The Spitz sticker increase tail strength plus 12..."

"Y-you guys need to hurry up before Suicune attacks," Silva called from the wall as Shadow Suicune tried to move while Shadow Wes looked around for an item to heal it.

"..." Chris shook his head. "Those are all the stickers that are can be used for Squirtle and Ivysaur... Sorry..."

"So Squirtle gets upgrades while I remain the same," Ivysaur said before rolling his eyes. "That's SO good if you ask me."

"S-stop it, your sarcasm is so obvious," Red said. "We'll have to resort using your 4 attacks."

"4 attacks? I thought we had only 3," Ivysaur said.

"...Actually..." Squirtle began to think. "...Don't we know 4th ones?"

"Now that you mention it..." Chris began as he rubbed his chin. "I thought you 2 had 4 attacks instead of 3. It does not make sense for Red's Pokémon Change move to be your 4th move."

"Wait," Red began as he thought. "I saw our Final Smash before...and I do recall Squirtle using Hydro Pump and Ivysaur using Solarbeam..."

"...That's it!" Ivysaur said. "Now I remember. I can use Solarbeam, Red!"

"And I can use Hydro Pump!" Squirtle said.

"Your calling is not a Pokémon attack at all. It just calls us back. We still have our own 4th attacks with us!"

Chris nodded. "That is correct. It makes a lot of sense that you 2 know those attacks."

"And considering the fact Suicune is a Water type, according to my Pokédex..." Red looked at the paralyzed Suicune. "...It means Ivysaur's Solarbeam will prove very effective..."

"Super effective," Chris corrected.

"Whatever!" Red said. "Ivysaur, prepare to charge Solarbeam!"

Ivysaur grinned at Red before turning around, slowly gathering energy inside its flower's bulb as sparkles of light appeared above it.

"Hey, what do I do?" Squirtle asked. "I didn't receive these boosts of power for nothing, right?"

"Er..." Red looked at Shadow Suicune. "...You could wet its eyes so it doesn't escape..."

"...That's utterly pathetic for my tastes...but it'll help to finish this fight..." Squirtle said with a shrug before turning around to run at Shadow Suicune.

Shadow Wes grunted as he didn't find anything to heal Shadow Suicune. "I hate myself for not re-stocking items..." He noticed Squirtle and Ivysaur preparing theit attacks. "Suicune, use Ice Beam!"

"Stop right there!" Squirtle yelled before shooting a stream of water by using Water Gun. Unlike its normal power, the water that came out from Squirtle's mouth was a lot as it sprayed all over Shadow Suicune. Red watched in awe as Shadow Suicune got pushed back along the ground. The Water Gun's pushing force surely was increased by several levels.

"...Alright!" Red said as he made a fist. "The sticker gave all that power to Squirtle?"

Chris adjusted his glasses. "If it did that, then our battles could be a lot easier in the future..."

"Red!" Ivysaur called as the energy inside his bulb stopped gathering. "It's ready!"

"Right!" Red said as he pointed forward. "Squirtle, step aside! Ivysaur, unleash Solarbeam at full potency on Suicune!"

"W-what?!" Shadow Wes asked as he gritted his teeth. "S-Suicune, use Blizzard!"

The group gasped as Shadow Suicune started to gather ice mist in its mouth. Ivysaur didn't stop his move before he raised his back a bit to aim his bulb at the Legendary Pokémon. Once he did that, a green beam quickly shot from its bulb. At that moment, Shadow Suicune released a big sleet of ice that reached the beam.

However, since Shadow Suicune's energies were greatly depleted by Lucario's previous actions, Ivysaur's Solarbeam proved to be stronger as it easily pierced through the sleet. Shadow Suicune gasped as the beam quickly hit its face square, prompting an explosion to push back the Water type as it yelled in pain, falling to its right side as its face got slammed on the ground.

"Is it over?" Rui asked as Ivysaur lowered his back while Squirtle reunited with the group.

"Please, let this battle be over with..." Silva muttered.

"We had fought for a long while now," Chris said. "There is no way Shadow Wes possess any kind of special ability to attack back..."

"..." Red kept a glare at the Shadow Nightmare.

"..." Shadow Wes slowly shook his head as the Solarbeam vanished in an instant, leaving a trail of sparkles that dispersed through the air above the knocked out Shadow Pokémon, disappearing into nothingness. "...No..."

Music stops

The group watched as the Shadow Nightmare shook his head and fell on his knees, looking at his last Pokémon knocked out on the ground. The Shadow Nightmare slowly moved its Poké Ball to return Shadow Suicune to it before he kept it in its belt. "...Why...why...why...why...why...why, dangit?!" he asked loudly in rage before he began to slam his right fist on the ground. "Why did I have to lose in such a way?! WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?! WHY?!"

"...You did it..." Rui muttered before some tears strolled down her cheeks. "...Y-you did it, guys! You defeated him!"

"W-we did it? W-we really did it?" Red asked before he knelt down to look at his Pokémon. "W-we did it!"

"We did it?" Squirtle asked before chuckling. "Hey, I guess we did it."

"Of course we did it," Chris said with a chuckle. "That is the most logical outcome we could reach."

"Are you showing off?" Ivysaur asked with a grin.

"W-well...I-I will not lie..." Chris said embarrassed.

"Yes, you did it!" Rui exclaimed happily as she went and hugged Red tightly. "You managed to do it, Red. Thank you so much!"

"R-Rui, you're starting to scare me..." Red said as he blushed.

Chris noticed that Silva walked to him. "Well, I haven't seen you before, but..."

The 4 humans looked back at the Shadow Nightmare as he kept banging his right fist on the ground. The shadow grew furious after losing the battle. Stopping, he looked up quickly to glare at the group. "You...you...YOU!!!"

The 4 humans and the 3 remaining Pokémon glared at the monster. "Geez, you just won't get over it, right?" Red asked.

"I can't believe you're the manifestation of Wes's truths," Rui said. "You shouldn't try to kill us all just because we care for Pokémon!"

"Admit that you were defeated fair and square," Chris said, his half-open eyes looking serious as he pointed his book at the Shadow Nightmare. "Now, you can go away."

"Shut up!" Shadow Wes yelled as he got up and cracked his fists. "You didn't win fair and square at all. Because of the nerd guy, my Pokémon were obliterated by those unknown and powerful attacks. How can call you that fair and square?"

"If I recall, you tried to restore your Pokémon," Red said.

"That's because it's allowed to do that in battles here. My god, why don't you know that?" Shadow Wes asked. "Why do you even bother trying to be a trainer?"

The group didn't hear some silent grunts coming from behind them as some topaz eyes slowly opened their eyelids.

Red looked serious at him.

"Why do you try so hard to be a trainer?" Shadow Wes asked. "I don't understand why you keep struggling to be something you can't even do right."

"...I..." Red looked down. "...I became a trainer because...I...I...I..."

The people of the group looked as Red made fists on the sides of his hips.

Kingdom Hearts II - Missing You

"...I became a trainer because..." Red lowered his hat a bit. "...I wanted to find a friend of mine again..."

"...What?" Shadow Wes asked. "Why did you..."

Red put his hands in his sockets. "The reason why I wanted to become a trainer originally was because I missed a childhood friend that started the journey to become a Pokémon Master 8 months before I started my own journey," Red explained. "...Truth is, my friend and I were very close to each other, but I never heard of her ever since she started her journey..."

Rui blinked at this. "Wait, you became a trainer because..."

"...I wanted to meet her again," Red said. "The name of my friend was Green, but she said she hated her name a bit so she decided to give herself a shorter name, and she came up with the name Geren."

"...You friend's name was Green?"

"Please, don't laught at her name, but Geren sounded better," Red said before he smiled a bit. "Geren and I became friends when we were little. I met her one day in Pallet Town when we were both 6. She was born 9 months earlier than me so she was older. When I met her, it was the time where I didn't like Pokémon that much."

"You WHAT?!" Shadow Wes asked. "You didn't like Pokémon?!"

"SHUT UP!" Red yelled. "I need to continue if order for you to understand me... Anyway, when I was little, I used to hate Pokémon...not like them... I hated them because I thought they were monsters that hid in the forests to attack people. I was unfortunate to hear stories about wild Pokémon attacking people without reason from the TV. I began to think like that before I met Geren."

The World Traveler looked over at the fainted Pokémon.

"One day, I was walking back home after I played Hide-n-Seek with some other friends I had. When I was hallway there, I met Geren..."

Flashback

Pallet Town
Road

It was a sunny afternoon as a young boy walked home with a blank expression. The boy that walked through the road alone was a younger Red. When he was little, he wore a red shirt, black shorts, and white sneakers. The young boy didn't wear a hat yet.

"I was minding my own business when I stumbled into her..."

The young boy suddenly stopped in his tracks to see a young girl crying under a tree. The long brown haired girl was young, and she wore a pink shirt with a white skirt and blue shoes. Close to the girl, there was a weak Pidgey that seemed hurt in its right wing.

"U-uah!" the young Red yelped. "Y-you, get away from it!"

"...Huh?" the girl stopped crying as she looked at the boy on the road. "W-what are you talking about?"

"T-there's a monster close to you, that's what!" the young Red yelled as he pointed at the Pidgey. "S-stay back, it's going to attack you!"

The girl wiped out her tears and stood up. "A-are you crazy or what?"

"W-what?"

The girl ducked to pick up the Pidgey, startling the boy a bit. "T-this Pidgey got its wing hurt because a mean Spearow picked up on it. The bully pecked its wing so hard before I came around and tossed a rock to scare it away, but then Pidgey had already fell down..." The girl sniffed a bit as she looked at the Pidgey. "I've been here this whole time taking care of it. I began to panic when it fainted, but I couldn't take it home because my parents would say no..."

The young kid shook his head. "Of course they're going to say no. Pokémon are bad!"

"W-what?" the young girl asked. "H-how can you say such a thing to them?"

"They're bad, they attack people without reason," the young boy said. "Haven't you seen the wild Pokémon that live around the town?"

"Are you telling me you hate Pokémon because they live with us?"

"Y-yeah, that!" the young boy said. "How can you get close to one?"

"I can get close to one because I like them!"

"You like them? Why?"

The girl blushed a bit. "T-there are certain Pokémon that look so cute...and Pidgey here looks cute..." She walked to him to show him the Pidgey, making the boy take a step back. "Doesn't it look cute?"

"P-put that away from me!" the young boy yelped.

The girl pouted a bit. "That's a rude and mean reaction, you know. This Pidgey isn't even doing anything rather than resting to heal its wing..." She looked down at the Pidgey. "...Would you let an innocent Pokémon suffer while you just walk away?"

The young boy remained silent as he looked shocked at the hurt Pidgey. The boy looked surprised as the Pidgey opened an eye to look at him. By the looks it gave him, the Pidgey was badly hurt before it fainted again.

"...Now you see?" the girl asked. "It doesn't want to hurt anybody. Pidgey got unlucky because a mean Pokémon attacked it... If you think innocent people get attacked unfairly by wild Pokémon, wild Pokémon themselves attack each other without reason."

"..." The boy looked down before hearing the Pidgey chirping silently in pain.

"Oh no, things are getting worse now," the girl said as she rubbed the Pidgey's head with care. "I need to take this somewhere safe before night comes..." She looked around. "I don't think I can ask someone else to take care of it..."

"...I-I'll do it if you don't mind..." the boy muttered with a gulp.

The girl looked at him surprised. "W-what?"

"I-I'll take care of Pidgey..." the boy said as he looked at the bird. "Y-you said it's not going to hurt me, right?"

"O-of course not," the girl said. "This Pidgey wouldn't hurt you because you want to take care of it. Pidgey will understand, right, Pidgey?"

The boy looked back at the Pidgey. It opened weakly an eye and chirped a bit.

"See? It trusts us."

The boy gulped. "W-well...I think I can tell my mom I'm going to look after it... She likes Pokémon..."

"And you don't?" the girl asked. "You should like them. You could learn a LOT about them."

The boy looked away. "D-don't get me wrong. I'm just doing this so you stop looking sad."

The girl blushed. "...T-that's...a little bit too much to say..."

"...E-er, oh yeah, too much," the boy said blushing as both looked away. "...S-so...I'm going to take care of Pidgey for you..."

The girl looked at him. "And you won't mind?"

"N-nope, I won't," the boy said. "I-I'm going to be scared, though..."

The girl chuckled. "Oh, please, you don't need to be scared. Here." She gave the weak Pidgey to the boy's arms. The kid began to sweat a bit as he felt the bird resting on his arms. "Now Pidgey is gonna be with you until it heals."

"I-is it going to be fast?" the kid asked. "I mean, is its wing going to heal fast so it goes away?"

"If you want, you can call me so I can pick it up for you if you don't wanna raise it. I like Pidgeys," she said. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

The boy looked away embarrassed. "M-my name is...Red..."

"...Red?" the girl repeated.

"Just laugh at me already! I have a very stupid name!" the boy yelled without looking at her.

"Why would I?" the girl asked embarrassed. "My name is Green..."

The boy gasped a bit and looked at her. "W-why do you have a color for a name as well as me?"

The girl blushed. "W-well, my parents called me that because Green is supposed to mean hope. They're weird, you know. They used this name on me because I gave them hope to be their daughter..." She looked away. "...So yeah, that's why my name is Green. It's supposed to be something like hope. What about yours? Did they name you like that because of a reason?"

Red blushed. "I-I heard my mom saying I had a lot of energy, and she said red means energy... I guess my name's like that because I'm energetic..."

Green chuckled. "My guess is that you freak out by Pokémon so much that she knew you were energetic."

"H-hey, knock it off."

Green chuckled again. "Well, you can just call me Geren, though."

"Geren?"

Green nodded. "Geren is an anagram for Green. I thought about asking my mom to change it, but I found out people can have nicknames and I decided to come up with Geren. It sounds a little bit girly for a girl, right?"

"I guess..."

"Too bad you don't have that many letters," Geren said. "Why don't you call yourself Dre?"

"...Thinking about it, Red sounds good enough for me."

Geren pouted a bit. "Okay, I'm not so good at giving nicknames." She looked at Pidgey. "So, anyhow, can you take care of Pidgey without freaking out?"

"I...will try to..." Red said scared.

Geren chuckled. "Oh, you're going to do it just fine. Pidgey surely will like you a lot before you know it."

"B-but promise me you're going to take it away once it heals, okay?"

"Show me your house and I'll listen," Geren said.

"W-wait, you want to come to my house?"

"Just for a bit," Geren said bored. "I want to make sure you don't cheat and leave Pidgey outside. I'm gonna convince your mom to let you take care of it."

"Dammit..." Red muttered.

"Hey, were you cursing?"

"I-I mean, okay!" Red said. "C-come this way, please..."

Red and Geren soon headed south to Red's house. As they were walking, Geren wanted to know a little bit more about Red as the boy responded her answers and doubts along the way to the house. Before long, they began to laugh a bit with each other.

"And before I knew it, Geren and I became fast friends before reaching my house..."

The Under
Apotos Temple - Entrance

Red smiled a bit. "When I came home, she convinced my mom to let me take care of Pidgey. Days passed and Pidgey eventually healed. I got surprised and called Geren to let her know about Pidgey's recovery. She got so happy that she hugged me..." He blushed. "A-and after that day...we began to spend the time with each other..."

"...Wow," Chris commented. "Is there anything more?"

Red nodded. "Geren and I grew up. As we grew up, she talked to me a lot about Pokémon: how they were cute, how they were strong, how they were curious, and how there were some ancient creatures. She told me many times that she wanted to become a Pokémon trainer in order to know more about them. One day, she asked me if I forgot my dislike towards Pokémon. She knew I didn't have it with me anymore, but I didn't like Pokémon as much as she did."

"Then what happened?" Rui asked.

"After I knew she was going to leave 1 month after her birthday, I began to panic in my mind..."

[DededeCloneChris]

Red looked down. "I made mistake with Geren because we became best friends. There was something in her that..." He reddened a bit. "...O-okay, I don't want to say it, but I didn't want her to go... She asked me if I was going to go on a journey as she was going to...and I..."

"...You said yes..." Chris added.

"...Yeah," Red said. "I disliked Pokémon, but I didn't dislike Geren. She was a very special friend to me... And I told her I was going to do the same... She looked so excited to start her journey early so I told her she could start first before I'd turn 10. She asked me why, but I told her she should enjoy the journey if she wanted to do it. After a month passed, I said goodbye to her as she left Pallet Town with a Squirtle."

"She left with a Squirtle?" Squirtle asked.

"She said she liked Water types," Red said.

"But you didn't like weak-looking Pokémon like me because you liked Charmanders better," he said annoyed.

"E-er, I-I dropped that thought away, Squirtle! Don't get annoyed by that!" Red said before coughing. "S-so anyway, months passed and I didn't hear of her besides the letters she sent to me. Geren always told me she was happy to be in a journey, but she wanted me to become a trainer so we could travel together. Last time, I recall she was at Lavender Town some days ago." Red looked at them. "And that's why I decided to become a trainer..."

"T-that's...so sweet," Rui said before smiling. "You wanted to see a dear friend again..."

"I-I know it sounds farfetched, but that's the truth..." Red said. "...And before I knew it, I got entangled with a lot of strangers I didn't know..." He looked at Chris. "Just like Chris."

"...You used Pokémon so you could meet a rebel..." Shadow Wes muttered.

Red turned to him. "N-no! You're getting all wrong! Geren liked Pokémon a lot and I began to like them as much as she does!"

"Silence!" Shadow Wes yelled as he cracked his fists. "Those who dislike Pokémon should kill themselves for making that unforgivable mistake. I'm going to kill you off for being such a poor excuse for a trainer!"

The group gasped as the Shadow Nightmare began to dash from the other side of the tunnel towards Red. The Pallet Town trainer took a step back before the shadow was some feet away from him. Rui, Silva, and Chris watched surprised as the shadow made it quickly to Red before pulling back his right fist.

"DIE!"

The sound of a fist echoed in the tunnel...but Red wasn't hurt.

The trainer had his arms crossed in front of his face. Noticing that nothing impacted on him, he slowly removed his arms to see the shadow lying down on the ground, grunting in pain as his arms were extended.

"...W-Wes!" Rui suddenly yelled.

The group quickly looked at the real (shady) trainer besides Red's right side. Wes seemed to be recovered after being unconscious for a long time. The trainer had a right fist extended in front of him as he glared down at his doppelganger.

"Y-you're back?" Red asked surprised as Wes pulled back his fist. The trainer, however, ignored Red as he walked towards the shadow. "(Is he still going to act like that after ALL we went through?)"

The shadow slowly opened his eyes to stare up at the real Wes. Something in Wes's look seemed to shock the shadow as it looked shocked at him.

"..." Wes sighed. "...I...I admit all my truths now..."

Red, Chris, Squirtle, and Ivysaur gasped at this. "W-what?" Chris asked. "Y-you accept all the lies that you have been hiding all this time?"

Wes remained silent before he nodded. "Yeah..." Wes frowned. "After I saw you..." he trailed off as he looked down at the shadow. "...I began to think nothing you showed me was true...until I thought things over..."

"You realized everything was the whole truth?" Red asked. "How? I thought you were unconscious..."

"To be honest, I was still conscious, but I couldn't react to anything," Wes said. "I was dreaming in darkness...wondering why I ended up there... I grew angry when I remembered that this monster mocked me by somehow showing me my past in front of my eyes. Honestly speaking, I wasn't admitting everything that happened... I wanted to kill humanity..."

Rui gasped.

"I wanted to free all Pokémon from everyone even if I didn't know them."

Silva gasped.

"I didn't care who was nice or not to Pokémon."

Chris gasped.

"...And that included you all..."

Red gasped.

Wes looked down at the shadow. "So, when you came out, you wanted to reject me because you grew upset that I didn't want to say my true purposes..."

The shadow didn't respond as he slowly got up, staring at Wes blankly. The shadow nodded to Wes after recalling what he said.

"..." Wes gritted his teeth a bit. "I was so stupid for not even being nice to people I didn't know... I was alone in my own world... I hated everyone for treating Pokémon like that...but only Team Snagem did that sort of thing and not everyone..."

"...You could say Team Snagem is to blame here," Silva began to speak. "You grew with them, and you got the wrong message."

"...And still..." Wes continued. "I hated everyone for no good reason... Gonzap ended up betrating me but...but..." Wes looked at them. "...I could tell he really liked me as his adoptive son. I remember all the times we spent the time together. There wasn't a single sign of betrayal; only good times with him." Wes frowned. "In truth, Gonzap did a good job in raising me...and he didn't want me to steal Pokémon because he knew I hated to steal."

The shadow nodded to him. "You understand Gonzap tried to raise us in the good path, right?"

"...Yeah," Wes said. "...And...if I...we get to see him again..." Wes grinned a bit at his shadow. "...We're gonna give him a hit with a fist."

The shadow grinned back at him. "And then we're gonna tell him..."

"Thanks for everything you've done to me," Wes finished. "He was a fool for putting me in that plan without asking me before, but he was a great man to me; a great...dad...who took care of me and my Pokémon. I grew up the wrong way, but Gonzap tried so hard to give me support as I struggled to live."

Rui stared at Wes for a while before she tilted her head and smiled a bit, Silva folded his arms and smiled a bit, Chris adjusted his glasses after wiping a small tear, and Red could only smile a bit after hearing Wes's words.

"...And also..." Wes continued. "...I want to start all over again..." he trailed off. "...I can stil forgive all the people for giving them the cold shoulder if I explain myself..."

Kingdom Hearts II - Friends In My Heart

The shady trainer turned around to face the group. However, his shady look wasn't there anymore. There was an honest happy expression that made some of them open their mouths in surprise. Opening his eyes, Wes gave them a true smile that didn't look evil or shady anymore.

"This...this is funny..." Wes said. "I haven't remembered the last time I smiled like this... It feels so good after doing so... It must have been a long time..."

"W-Wes!" Rui yelled.

Wes chuckled with a nod before turning to the shadow. "So now...I want you to join me again so you watch how I'm going to attone for my mistakes on all the people I met during this mission." He hit his chest with his left hand. "I want to save all the Pokémon from Cipher and not the whole humanity."

Shadow Wes made a happy expression. "At last, you have understood what I've been suffering this whole time. I'm glad you finally realized the wrong feeling that Team Snagem put into you."

"Yeah," Wes said before smiling a bit. "Now, please, let's be one again."

The Shadow Nightmare nodded with a small laugh before it began to shine, revealing Wes's true image before it vanished into sparkles of light that rained down on the normal trainer. Wes closed his eyes as the sparkles made him glow a bit before vanishing completely. The group gasped before the trainer fell down on his knees with a grunt. They all ran to him to see if he was fine.

"Wes!" Silva put his right arm behind Wes. "Wes, are you okay? Wes!"

"..." Wes opened his eyes to stare at the 4 humans and 3 Pokémon. "...Heheheheh...hi..." he muttered before looking at Red and Chris. "...You guys...I'm sorry for...mistreating you all this time..."

"You idiot..." Red muttered. "You don't know how worried we were for you, right?"

"Y-you...were worried about me?"

"Of course we did that," Chris said. "Even if you did mistreat us, we knew there was a reason behind your cold attitude." He smiled a bit. "...And look at you, you have changed for the better as Espeon and Umbreon wanted..."

"M-my Pokémon..." Wes lifted his head up to look at the group of fainted Pokémon behind them. "...Are they...okay?"

At that moment, all the fainted Pokémon began to mumble silently before they all stood up, looking around. "Is the fight...over?" Pikachu asked as he rubbed his head. "I have headache now..."

"...They can talk..." Wes said. "...You guys were hiding something from us after all..."

Red smiled a bit at him. "I think we can tell you everything about us..."

Espeon and Umbreon looked at the group before noticing the real Wes looking at them. The weak character smiled a bit, prompting them to widen their eyes before dashing quickly to his sides. "(I-I don't believe it...)" Umbreon began as he looked at his trainer. "(W-Wes is smiling like he used to...)"

"(H-how did this happen?)" Espeon asked as his eyes began to fill with tears. "(T-this is a miracle...)"

"Hey..." Wes said as he smiled weakly at the 2. "...How's it going?"

"(Y-you idiot...)" Umbreon said as he shed some tears. "(W-we've been so worried and you wake up and ask how are we doing?)"

The 2 Pokémon looked at each other before they slowly leaned their faces against Wes's face. The 2 began to rub their cheeks happily at Wes before the trainer smiled weakly and rubbed their heads.

"(H-he's back...the Wes from before is back at last...)" Umbreon cheered as he rubbed his right cheek against Wes. "(I can't believe he's back!)"

"(Wes...you're finally yourself again...)" Espeon said happily as they both continued to rub their cheeks against Wes's face. The trainer chuckled heartily as they all laughed a bit at the scene.

Rui wiped some tears before sniffing a bit. "I...I...I'm glad this came out good..." She looked at Red and Chris. "T-thank you 2 so much..."

Red and Chris looked at each other before they chuckled. "Hey, Chris," Red began. "Shouldn't we investigate the temple now that we're here?"

"Oh, right..." Chris said. "Er, would you all mind us if we do some research in the temple over there?"

"We were sent to do that," Mewtwo said.

Wes looked at the Smashers before he nodded. "Do whatever you want for now...but...I need you to take me and my Pokémon back to the hotel to rest... In the meantime...I want everyone to recover their energies..."

Red nodded. "You got it, Wes."

"Thanks..."

A lot of things happened after the battle ended. Red, Chris, Mewtwo, Squirtle, and Ivysaur decided to investigate the temple while Rui and Silva took Wes back to the hotel with Espeon and Umbreon following. As for the other Pokémon, they all decided to go back at the hotel as well as the other Smashers were left to investigate the temple.

Inside the temple, there wasn't anything valuable to mention, except the sun, moon, and the doors that had emblems of a planet on them. This proved to be futile for the Smashers to find out more about the temple.

The question about the doors was still being discussed.

They found out that there were slots on each door. This proved to be a little bit helpful before Mewtwo recalled that they needed the tablets that Tails spoke of.

Overall, they just found the temple, and nothing else.

And so, the night went on...

Outside

Morning came from the west outside a secret elevator that led to the coliseum in The Under. Wes and the others had found their way into the coliseum after using the F-Disk that they got from beating Dakim in Mt. Battle. Silva decided to stick around more with them. The Smashers, now all recovered, looked at Wes, Espeon, Umbreon, Rui, and Silva as they were all standing in front of the hidden elevator around some canyons. The group had already explained everything that Wes asked them. This made everything easier for the previous shady trainer to understand their true intentions.

Sadly for Rui, the Smashers had to leave for the time being.

"Whaaaaaaat?" Rui asked. "You're leaving now?"

Wes coughed a bit. "I see why you wanted to help us out," he said. "You wanted to help us in order to find the temple because you didn't know Orre that much."

"That is pretty much it," Chris said. "We are so sorry for not saying it before."

"No worries there," Wes said with a chuckle as Espeon and Umbreon looked up to him. "Thanks to all of you, I returned to be my old self from a long time ago." He looked down at his Pokémon. "Thanks to them you were able to understand me better before I realized all my mistakes. I can't be more grateful to you for helping me."

"Good," Pikachu said as he sat down on Chris's right shoulder. "You really looked shady before."

Wes looked at Pikachu. "It's amusing that you all can talk through those translators machines you have with you. Well, now that I know you're a special group that seeks to defeat another different organization...I think we have some things in common."

"Do we?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yeah," Wes said. "If you weren't here, I could have died, knowing that nobody else would miss me..."

"T-that's not true, Wes," Rui said as she shook her head. "I-I..." She blushed. "...I-I would miss you if you were to die..."

Wes looked at her worried. "Rui..."

Rui sniffed a bit. "Y-you don't know how scared I was when that monster knocked you out, Wes..." She smiled a bit. "I-I was so lucky to have Red and Chris there to save you..."

Wes turned to Red and Chris. "And...thank you so much for everything," Wes said with a bow. "Thanks to you, I was able to understand how Umbreon and Espeon felt about my attitude. I should congratulate them for trying to change me."

Umbreon stared at Pichu on Chris's left shoulder. Pichu looked at Wes. "Umbreon says you were being a jerk all this time."

"I...know..." Wes said before kneeling down to rub their Pokémon' heads. "You 2 knew an awful lot about me... Thank you 2 as well."

"Espeon!" Espeon said happily.

"Umbreon!" Umbreon barked happily.

Wes got up and smiled a bit at the Smashers. "So, you still have a long way to defeat this Subspace Army, right?"

"Yeah," Red said. "We have a lot of people in our group, but they're not here." He looked bored. "You wouldn't believe all the things we have to do in order to defeat the army."

"I see," Wes said with a chuckle. "Well, maybe I could relate that to us as well... And...Red..." Wes looked down. "I'm sorry for everything I told you. When my shadow rejoined in me, I was able to see all the actions he yelled at you. Those actions were the same things I wanted to say aloud to you because I was furious."

"But now..."

"...I've calmed down," Wes said. "Now that I heard you saying that you had a purpose to be trainer, I understood why you struggled so much to become one... If you ask me, I thought it was stupid because I thought it was related to love."

Red reddened. "H-hey, we're not like that! Knock it off!"

"I'm just joking, don't worry," Wes said chuckling. "I thought again and I want to apologize from the start." He looked at all the Pokémon. "I'd like to have a battle against you, Chris."

Chris looked worried at Lucario before looking at Wes. "We have to go, unfortunately..."

"I'm not done yet."

"What?"

Wes looked at Red. "I also want to fight you as well, Red."

"M-me?" Red asked.

The Snag Machine wielder nodded. "Remember? The shadow gave me all the memories he had during the battle. I saw it all and I must say that you did a good job while using my Umbreon and Espeon." He looked down at the 2 mentioned Pokémon. "You're getting better to become a good trainer."

Red scratched his head with his right hand as he looked embarrassed. "D-do I look like I'm becoming better?"

"Right," Chris said.

"Yeah," Rui said.

"You do," Silva said.

"Absolutely, Red," Wes said. "I kinda make me feel jealous because you enjoyed events I couldn't enjoy, such as having true friends and a family... But...after the battle...I'm starting to realize I have friends and a family."

"Gonzap," Silva said. "Are you sure you want to see him again?"

"I'm pretty sure he's gonna hear me out after I punch him a good one," Wes said with a grin. "Gonzap will be happy after I apologize for everything I've done to the hideout."

"What are you going to do after you finish Cipher?" Chris asked.

Wes looked around the wastelands. "After I put Cipher down...I want to travel to other regions and become a real trainer," Wes said. "I've heard there were leagues where Pokémon trainers fight. I also want to spread out info about Orre so this place gets crowded with people from all over the world. This region needs more people so there are chances for other Pokémon to live here."

"That's a great dream," Red said.

"Thanks," Wes said before moving his right fist to them. "Promise you're going to fight me after we meet again sometime?"

Red smiled at him and pushed his own fist against Wes. "You got it, Wes. By that time, I'm going to be even better."

"I'll see," Wes said chuckling.

Rui walked to Chris before she hugged him tightly. "Thank you for helping Wes," she whispered to his ears before she stopped hugging him.

Chris, blushing, adjusted his glasses. "Y-you are welcome..." he said with a small laugh.

Rui turned to the Pokémon before she began to hug every single one of them, most of them blushing as silent responses. "And thank you all for helpind out as well."

Lucario looked away. "I hope we go back to the mansion now..."

Wes and Red pulled his fists back before Wes looked at the Pokémon. "You have got a pretty strong team," he remarked. "I saw how your Lucario fought, and his strength is surely a force to be feared of. He made me realize I need to get better."

Chris began to rub Lucario's head as the Aura Pokémon growled in his mouth. "I'm glad he got the chance to fight an important battle."

"Guuuuuuuuooooooooorrrrrrrrgh..." Lucario growled as he turned to Chris and pulled him under his right arm.

"L-Lucario, not in front of everyone..." Chris muttered as Lucario rubbed his cheek to him.

Wes smiled a bit. "True bonding between human and Pokémon..." He closed his eyes. "I wish for everyone to be just like that..."

Espeon and Umbreon looked at the other Pokémon. "(Thanks a lot for everything,
)" Umbreon said. "(We wouldn't have made Wes his past self again if you weren't here.)"

Espeon nodded. "(Now we know we can finally enjoy our time with Wes to the fullest. People will surely like him better this way.)"

"(Glad we helped you,)" Ivysaur said. "(I would have had nightmares with him if he stayed like that.)"

"(I second that,)" Squirtle said.

"(Oh, stop it,)" Umbreon said annoyed. "(He changed, okay? You don't have to critizice him even more.)"

Mewtwo crossed his arms. "(As long as he doesn't get the wrong idea, everything will be just fine.)"

"(That's true,)" Espeon said. "(Again, thanks for everything, you guys. I hope we meet each other again in the future and fight a friendly battle.)"

"So!" Silva suddenly spoke. "I heard Venus is putting a high alert in the town. Wes, Rui, you need to go there and stop her before things get worse!"

Wes and Rui looked at him and nodded before turning to the Smashers. Wes began to shake hands with both Chris and Red. "Good luck with your mission. I'll make sure we meet again."

"How?" Red asked.

Wes rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should, I don't know, come here and find me?"

"That's weird."

"Well, I did my best. Maybe I'll see you very soon again," Wes said before looking at his group. "Time to go and beat Venus."

"Good thing you got the Suicune from her thanks to your shadow," Rui said. "It's the only good action he did for you."

"Too bad it got transported to my PC after I gained control of Espeon and Umbreon," Wes said. "But I'll get it once we go down."

The Smashers saw as the 5 characters turned towards the elevator as they waved at them. "Good luck, okay?" Rui asked.

"Be sure to come again at Pyrite Town," Silva said. "I work there so I'd like you to drop by sometime!"

The 5 got inside the elevator before Wes waved at them. "Red, expect you keep your promise of battling, you got that?"

"Y-yeah," Red said before most of them began to wave at them. "Likewise here."

Wes grinned one last time before the elevator closed, the Pokémon barely seeing Umbreon and Espeon waving at them before it went down back at The Under.

Wes and Rui have left your team.

The scholar sighed as he opened the portal back to the Smash Mansion. "And now, it is time for us to leave."

"We didn't do much we did help Wes to get over his past, right?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Yep," Pikachu said as he raised a hand. "He needed to change so urgently."

"I know," Pichu said, shivering a bit. "I couldn't stare directly at him before his face changed."

"Hey, you guys..." Red began as he tapped the ground with his right foot's tip. "...Do you think I'm starting to become better at being a Pokémon trainer?"

"I think you are," Lucario said.

"R-really? Do I show promise?"

"I'll tell you something," Mewtwo said. "I'll tell you what I think about you if you destroy that Master Ball."

Red looked embarrassed as he took out the Master Ball. "H-how do I destroy it?" The trainer didn't get an oral response as Lucario took the ball and crushed it in his right palm, letting the crumbles fall on the ground. "...That should help... So, what do you think of me, Mewtwo?"

"I think you need to train a lot more before you get more used to your "career" if you know what I mean."

"...Thanks, I guess..." Red said.

"Shall we get going to our house?" Jigglypuff said with a sigh. "After I let you use my services, I need to have a very good rest."

"Who do you think you are now?" Squirtle asked bored.

"I think I'm me," Jigglypuff said annoyed. "Can we please leave?"

The Smashers nodded in unison before they all began to leave the wastelands and the hidden elevator. Before Chris could leave, Lucario stopped him. "Chris, can I...ask you a favor?"

"What is it?" Chris asked.

"I heard from Squirtle that he got more power because of a sticker...and I was wondering if you had a sticker that I can only use..."

Chris thought for a moment. "Actually, I think I have a sticker for aura... Oh, here it is." He showed Lucario a sticker of Rachel, a sticker he got a long time ago. "This sticker gives aura power a boost of 11."

Lucario gave him his trophy stand. "Then stick it to it."

"Why do you want to do this?"

"I want to feel stronger."

"...That's...all?"

Lucario looked worried. "I want to see how it feels to have that sudden surge of power, Chris... I'm only asking you for that."

"...Fine," Chris said with a chuckle and he put the sticker on the stand.

Lucario's aura suddenly flared up by itself as the Aura Pokémon took a fighting stance, growling at the sudden boost of aura before he stopped, standing normally.

"For what was all that?" Chris asked confused.

"I was relinshing my newfound power," Lucario said as he let his aura cover him for a bit. "I have to say...it feels weird but so good at the same ti-"

"B-before you get a wrong sensation, let us go to the mansion, please," Chris said in a hurry before he ran into the portal.

The Aura Pokémon looked back and forth between the portal and the elevator before shrugging, entering the portal before it vanished, Lucario wishing for more aura and see if he could make Chris proud of him.

Too bad that only gave Chris a negative thought.

WORLD COMPLETED!

You have gained 2200 Smash Coins!

TO BE CONTINUED...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Smash Mansion
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Chip

[DededeCloneChris]

Chapter 154: The Star Ocean Of The 17th Century

Subspace
Deep Inside the Great Maze

Back at the realm of mixing darkness, there were Tabuu and the Ancient Minister looking down upon a weak Charizard. The Flame Pokémon stared up at them with a weak look as he panted heavily. "R-reporting in..." Charizard said.

"It seems you have failed to get information about the Apotos Temple," the Ancient Minister said.

Charizard glared up at them. "How was I supposed to know the stupid Shadow Nightmare would attack me so it could use another monster in battle?"

"You were a fool for not attacking the people," Tabuu said. "You could have just ignored the whole pride thing of Pokémon battles."

Charizard frowned. "Hey, even if I'm some sort of villain, which I truly am at this point, I like to have some pride left with me."

"That pride costed us the temple," the Ancient Minister said. "It's no use frailing over it, anyway. The fact that you didn't get the necessary info puts us at a disadvantage."

"Like they know what to do with it," Charizard said as he looked away annoyed. "They seemed as clueless as I was."

"Either way, you could have at least ignored the rules of battles of tha universe and make a frontal attack," Tabuu said before sighing. "But let us not frail over lost battles. Ancient Minister, can you call Dr. Eggman here?"

"Why do that?" Dr. Eggman asked as he appeared from within the darkness, arms folded behind his back. "I'm here."

"Good," Tabuu said. "I do believe you had found a new temple somewhere in another universe, correct?"

The doctor (questionable job) nodded. "Of course. After I finished the next Shadow Nightmare, I dedicated my whole time to find another world. And look what I found, I found some signals coming from the region of this universe..." He rubbed his chin. "I must remark that I didn't expect to find such a weird universe with...a really big age..."

"What do you mean by that?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"As weird as this may sound...the age of the universe clearly indicates it's the age 2700 SD..."

"I do not care for universal ages," Tabuu said.

"Well...I guess the idea of a planet that is still living in the 16th century isn't going to make you feel interested, right?"

Silence.

"...My thoughts exactly," Dr. Eggman said. "Well, shall I go to this world for a change?"

"Why would you want to do that?" the Ancient Minister asked.

"The fact that I wasn't able to repair the sucking process to sap the Shadow Bugs from that extremely flat character makes my process too slow so I want to see how you work against all of them," Dr. Eggman said. "Whoever inserted that hidden virus into the computer of the room did it perfectly. It bothers me that I can't even decipher it to erase it."

"(Of course not. I made a long complicated code so nobody would decipher it that easily,)" the Ancient Minister thought.

Dr. Eggman smiled evilly. "Besides finding the temple, I want to test them out with some robot I have in hands to use."

"...Very well," Tabuu said. "Bowser and King Dedede are still being tortured as we speak, and Ganondorf is making a full scale search on all the factory to see if there are any other errors that our perpetrator did."

The Ancient Minister looked away at this. "I should go help him, then."

"Much appreciated," Tabuu said. "Make sure to report to me once you find something relevant."

"As always," the Ancient Minister said before floating away into the Subspace's darkness.

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "Well, well, shall I commence my task? I'll try to find the temple's whereabouts in this old world."

"Please do," Tabuu said. "Do not let them get the upper hand."

"You have my word," Dr. Eggman said with a bow before walking away into the darkness of the Subspace, a glaring Charizard looking at his back.

"As for you," Tabuu began as he looked down on Charizard. "Heal your injuries and think about what you did wrong in the battle."

Charizard fumed a bit before slowly turning around, stomping his way out from the Subspace.

The leader of the Subspace sighed as he began to leave the area, his mind thinking about Dark Gaia and the temples.

Smash Mansion

Minutes before the group sent to Orre would arrive back at the mansion, there was an event happening in a certain vulpine's room as the flames of disaster boiled up his blood. These flames...literally didn't even appear.

Fox's Room

It had been a long while after the group left the mansion. Fox had set his mind to train his newly acquired magic spell that he couldn't use well. The vulpine panted heavily, sweat wetting his forehead as he stared forward at the wall.

Due to the fact that Fox had been yelling fire many times, he knew the wrong result would either end up in his tail or another part of his body. By this time, most of his body was a little bit charred with some soot that he didn't care to clean. Just to be sure, he secretly brought a bucket full of water should his fire spell burn something like his bed or his clothes. The mentioned bucket waiting for Fox underneath a shelf with books at the left side of his bed.

"FIRE!" Fox yelled, his right hand glowing with red, a little flame appearing on the top of his right ear that he quickly pressed it with his left hand to make it disappear. "Ugh, again..." The vulpine pulled back his right over his left shoulder as a red light came from underneath his feet, his hand glowing with the same color. "FIRE!" Another little flame appeared on the tip of his nose. The vulpine glared at the flame before pressing it against his tight left fist. "Dammit!"

Fox stomped the floor one time, gritting his fangs a little.

"I've been doing this all day and I'm not getting what I want to see," Fox muttered as he glared at the wall. "What am I doing wrong?" He recalled the Black Mage's words in his mind.


"...You basically think magic is a "hocus-pocus" thing..." Kief said in shame. "That's an insult, you knew that? Think of magic as hocus-pocus? What is wrong with you?" Kief glared back at Fox. "You're offending magic with your presence here!"

Fox blinked confused as he saw, through his eyes, the image of a small Kief floating in front of his face. The Black Mage had his arms folded as he floated in front of his snout.

"What the..." Fox glared at the small figure. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," Kief said as he blinked. "You wanted to recall my words so badly that your mind produced me."

Fox rolled his eyes before glaring back at him. "Anyway, I'm busy right now. Go away, I don't care about my mind playing tricks on me."

"I won't go away unless you admit you can't use Black Magic," Kief said, looking happy. "It's easy to admit you're not up to be a novice Black Mage."

"What the hell are you trying to say with that?" Fox asked as he came closer to Kief.

"Ooh, has anyone else ever told you that you have a really scary face when looked from a close distance?" Kief asked. "Oh wait, that's how your face will always be."

At that moment, from Fox's right ear, a small Caul came out and knocked his head a bit. "If you can't even use Fire, you can't be a Black Mage, kupo."

Fox's green eyes looked up, glaring at the furry. "Who asked you, anyway? I thought you were supposed to help me."

"I'm no teacher," Caul admitted. "You should have known how to use magic from the beginning, kupo."

From behind Fox's head, a small Hywel the Nu Mou slowly floated around and sat on Fox's left shoulder. "Hmm, you seem troubled."

Fox rolled his eyes after the 3 Black Mages appeared. "Will someone please give a help or at least a hint about what do I need to do in order to use Fire?"

"It wouldn't be funny if we did help you," Kief said. "It's amusing to see you trying desperately to use the most basic magic of them all."

Fox narrowed his eyes at him. "You're starting to act like a big jerk."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree with Kief," Hywel said as Fox's glaring eyes focused on him. "We don't have an exact answer for your question or problem."

"We're here just because you wanted to see us, kupo," Caul said. "That's all."

Fox frowned. "Then why did I have the sudden ability to call you all here?"

Kief blinked a bit. "Simply because your mind doesn't want to help you and it wants us to laugh at you. You know what? I'll start laughing so we get to the point of this friendly meeting. 3, 2, 1..."

In a quick move, Fox's fangs quickly bit the small Black Mage to get rid of him as the vulpine swallowed him inside his throat. After hearing Fox grunting deeply, Caul looked down at Hywel. "We should better leave before he becomes nuts, kupo."

Hywel nodded. "That was exactly what I was thinking. I do not want to suffer Kief's fate as well."

At that moment, the small Kief appeared floating from behind Fox, looking happy. "Actually, we're just intangible images that his mind created," Kief said. "Thank goodness we're not the real thing."

"True," Caul said as Fox grunted annoyed. "Okay, you behave good, kupo."

And with 3 poofs, the 3 Black Mages disappeared in thin air, leaving Fox mad.

"Seriously, what was all that for?" Fox asked to himself.

Sighing, he stopped to think what he was doing wrong.

"(What is wrong with me?)" Fox asked as he crossed his arms. "(It doesn't make sense that I can't use Black Magic. Why can Wolf do it and yet not me? It isn't that fair at all...)" He grunted as he pulled his hand back. "But what I DO know is that practice is helpful if I struggle a little bit more... Maybe I need to put more emphasis by saying the chant aloud?" He looked serious at the wall. "Burn to ashes... FIRE!"

Fortunately, a big flame appeared close to him.

Unfortunately, same big flame set his tail completely on fire.

Fox's eyes widened as he started to feel the burning fire. The vulpine, not wanting to scream and let anyone nearby know he just accidentally set his tail on fire, looked around for something to douse the fire. He frantically looked around his room as smoke rose up from the flames in his tail.

Either screaming for help would be a good option (but it would make someone laugh at him), or finding a fast alternative to put out the fire and avoid being seen with the fire tail was better than the first.

Lady luck was on his side as he spotted the bucket with water underneath the shelf of books. Starting to feel a burning pain in his rear, the most logical solution to douse it was to quickly leap to the bucket with a fast jump.

Unfortunately, he leaped way too far as his tail, along with his butt, dove into the bucket..

"UGH!" Fox managed to sit down in the bucket, but he accidentally slammed the back of his head hard against the wall, creating a small tremble that went all the way up to the book on the shelf of the wall. The vulpine sighed after smoke came from underneath his butt, a possible crisis (and humiliation) adverted.

He didn't notice the book shaking a bit after the tremble. They looked like they dangerously came closer to the edge, just above Fox.

The vulpine sighed in relief as pleasure from the cold water made him feel better. "Aah, that's much better..." Fox muttered with a satisfied smile.

And suddenly, all the books above him began to fall around on the floor. The sudden shakes of the floor startled him a bit as he, trying to move to look around due to the fact his butt got stuck in the bucket, looked down at the books.

"Weird," Fox commented as he looked at the sides of the bucket. "For a second there I thought a book was going to fall on my head."

The vulpine didn't look up where an old book covered in dust remained on the edge of the shelf. The book then fell all the way down on his head before falling on his lap.

Fox grumbled a bit as he glared down at the dirty book. Taking it with both hands, the vulpine glared at it. "I really have to clean these books someday. It has been a long while after I last read one of these..." He wiped off the dust of the book he had with him. Pushing dust away, the vulpine began to find a title on the cover. "Actually, what is this book? I don't remember having this one here..." He looked away. "Again, I need to remember what I have here and not back at the Great Fox... Hey..."

There was something on the book's cover that made the leader of Star Fox stare at it for a small while. As his green eyes moved at the sides to read the cover, a small smile formed on his face.

"My favorite children's book...Tales of Star Ocean," Fox said as he opened the book, a hint of excitement in himself as he let his eyes move at the sides to read the book. "Yes, this is the same one my dad used to read me. It has all the stories I always wanted to hear about the space, intergalactic wars, recognized people who fought for peace.. Man, those were good times, alright..." He coughed a bit. "I always liked to read the intro. Let's see here... Aha."

Tales of Star Ocean

A very long ago in the future, a society of a single planet never bothered to look beyond the sky and stars, beyond what we know as the space. The race that lived in the planet began to slowly discover and create technology that allowed them to reach higher heights above the skies of their planet. When the society grew wiser through the years, their technology became very sophisticated that it eventually allowed them to explore the vast stars and planets.

Once looking through the stars, the society managed to find life similar to theirs. There were many different races that never wanted to explore the space itself. When the society with technology decided to investigate foreign races, they found out that the races themselves were as intelligent as they were.

Eventually, knowing that the races of all planets were the same, the society that first set sail to the space's vast ocean began to become acquainted with almost all the races they found and met. Soon enough, all races began to develop and coexist with each other in order to live and discover whatever new finding was waiting to be found.

They created alliances such as organizations that maintained peace in the universe should one of them be under attack by a new race that only wished to conquer the universe. The organizations, however, were amazingly powerful against any threat. Total peace reined the universe as people began to travel from every single corner of the space.

This tale, and the wide horizon that the space had, became known as Star Ocean: the infinite space.

The vulpine's reading suddenly became slow as he stopped. Depression took Fox quickly as he closed the book. "...I know I should be happy for finding this book...but..." He sighed with a frown. "...It's not the same without my father..."

The vulpine's ears perked up a bit as he began to hear some footsteps coming from the silent halfway. If there was someone out there, he or she would see him sitting in the bucket for some reason. Fox, throwing the book to the bed, pushed himself up just to notice that his butt got stuck in the bucket once he stood up.

Fox grunted before he pushed the bucket away, dropping some water on the floor as he quickly put the bucket back to its place.

Since the hallways of the mansion were very long, any small sound could produce an echo if nobody was there. The vulpine decided to forget about the training to head down to the command room.

As Fox stopped in front of the door, he looked back at the book on the bed. "...Maybe I should read it during my private time... I'll take it," he said to himself as he went over for the book to get it. He kept it with him behind his back.

He then noticed the book was gone once he lost sight of it.

"I swear this hammerspace thing is just freaky...but very useful..." Fox muttered with a frown as he turned to the door and opened it.

A fast glare took over his face as he looked at a familiar person he didn't want to look for now.

Wolf, stopping his way down to the command room, glared back at Fox. "What's the matter with you?" Wolf asked.

"...Nothing," Fox said with a grunt. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were in the command room."

"It's not like I'm confined to that place, Fox," Wolf said. "I wanted to see something in another floor that bothered me a little."

"And I guess you're not going to say anything."

"You have accurate thoughts."

Fox rolled his eyes before he closed the door behind his back and walked away from Wolf.

The lupine crossed his arms and decided to go to the same place Fox was going.

"Idiot..." Wolf muttered.

Command Room

By the time both leaders walked into the room, the group that was sent to Orre had already arrived. For some reason, there was Red banging his head on the right wall as he recalled a mistake he did.

"Why didn't I catch Charizard?!" Red yelled as he continued to hit the wall. "Why?!"

"Geez, it's not like the dude is all that important," Ivysaur said as he patted Red's back with a vine. "Cheer up."

Red looked down at his 2 Pokémon. "But I had him where I wanted him to be, then those Primids came and took him away before I could catch him!"

Squirtle patted Red's right leg. "You're going to have your time to catch that idiot later. For now, let me and Ivysaur enjoy the time we have before you DO catch Charizard."

"He'll probably be so mad that his flame will burn him alive...if it can do that," Ivysaur said.

Red hit his head one more time against the wall, frowning as he leaned his head at it. "I'm such an idiot..."

Chris, who was nearby, chuckled nervously. "C-cheer up, Red. I am sure you will have your time where Charizard will be caught...y-you just have to wait a little bit more..." The scholar turned to look at Amy. "And...what is up with that expression you are making?"

The scholar didn't know why Amy had some sort of blank stare. Oddly enough, she didn't even seem to listen to Chris as her eyes simply stared forward like if she saw a ghost.

When Chris looked behind her, there were Knuckles, Tails, Cream, and Cheese (in her arms) with the same expressions. They stared forward, ignoring anyone or anything. Their eyes completely petrified.

"...What happened here?" Pikachu asked as he leaped to a table to wave a hand at Tails, his eyes not even moving. "Why are they like stones?"

"Well..." Master Hand began as he floated over to Knuckles. "Echidna here wanted to have some answers after Chris's mouth accidentally said the words video game so Knuckles demanded me to explain to him what Chris wanted to say so...yeah..."

The scholar stared blankly at him. "...You just did not tell them about what they really are, right?"

"..." Master Hand looked away. "...I...kind of told them everything... I even went as far as to take them to the real world..."

"...You took them to my room at my world..."

"...And they have been like this ever since..." Master Hand looked at him. "I told them many times that they were going to get so shocked but nooooooooooo they wanted to see what you meant back there that I didn't have any choice."

"..." The scholar closed his eyes. "...I suddenly have the idea of banging my face against my book...and then cast magic on you...then bang my face on my book again..."

"Your world is awesome, though," Chip said as he flew to Chris, carrying a red popcycle that was as big as he was. "You got yummy desserts all over your fridge. Oh, nice house. The couch was sooooooooooo soft."

"C-Chip? Y-you went there as well?" Chris asked in shock. "W-why did you want to go?"

"Dunno," Chip said as he liked his dessert. "Curiosity got over me. I didn't understand what the deal is with the fact we're all video game characters, but man, they took it very seriously."

The World Traveler stared at Chip somewhat surprised. "...You mean to say you do not care that you are a video game character?"

Chip looked at him. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer, I barely know what a video game is...so I dunno." He got happy after looking at his popcycle before taking a big bite of it. "Uah, brain-freeze!" he panicked before biting it again. "Uah, worse brain-freeze!" he panicked before biting it again. "Uah, even worse brain-freeze!"

The scholar grunted as he ignored the imp getting constant brainfreeze as he looked annoyed at the hand. "Why did not you come up with something to keep them away from knowing the truth?"

"Hey, they really wanted to know the truth, I gave it to them so they would stop asking. Also, Knuckles here wanted to punch me and he even threatened to kill me! I was so scared so I had to do it in order to save my life of poor old me!" the hand said sarcastically.

"You could have easily crushed him with your...self," Chris pointed out.

"Nah, better say the truth and see how they'd react," Master Hand said chuckling. "Look at their faces, they're priceless."

Chris looked back at Knuckles were he was being poked in his eyes by Sonic. "Ha, Knucklehead is at a trance," Sonic said snickering.

"How immature you are, seriously," Zelda commented with a frown.

Sonic looked at her. "If there are opportunities to use them on Knuckles, I'll take 'em."

Zelda sighed. "I don't understand how fun it is for you to do that sort of thing..."

"Hey, he's Sonic," Link said. "You pretty much get the whole idea to understand his personality."

"Hey," Sonic said annoyed. "What was that supposed to mean?"

The Hylian sweatdropped as Sonic ran his index finger all over Knuckles's eyes. "...Nothing..."

Mario waved a hand in front of Cream. "When do you think they're going to snap out from their trances?"

"Let's wait until that happens," Master Hand said. "For now, Tails's Temple Radar or whatever it's called is looking for the next temple. You guys didn't find anything useful about the temple at Orre, right?"

Mewtwo shook his head. "All we found there was..."

Flashback

Pokémon Colosseum

The Under
Apotos Temple - Gaia Gate

When the group was in Orre, right after the aftermath of the Shadow Nightmare battle, Red, Chris, Mewtwo, Squirtle, and Ivysaur decided to inspect the temple by themselves after Rui and Silva took Wes and the other Pokémon to rest at the hotel. Upon entering the temple, the group of 5 found themselves standing in a very clean floor.

The temple from the inside had ancient markings all over its white walls. There seemed to be light coming out from the ceiling, implying that there was probably a big hole that let the light from the wastelands reach the inner temple. A big arc was located just in front of the entrance.

The 5 Smashers looked around as they walked to the center of the temple. Looking to their left, there was another different room with some weird pedestals. Squirtle and Ivysaur ran over to the other room with Red and Chris following, leaving Mewtwo to inspect further ahead of him.

"H-hey, wait up!" Red yelled as Squirtle and Ivysaur entered the other room. "You guys have a lot of curiosity, did you know that?"

"Sorry," Squirtle said before looking at the pedestals. "I did grow very curious when looking at these formations."

Chris, upon seeing the 6 pedestals circling around the room, adjusted his glasses. "Interesting..."

"What, you know what these are?" Ivysaur asked as he jumped on a purple pedestal.

"...No," Chris admitted, receiving bored looks from both Pokémon. "I-I just expressed how interested I was for these pedestals... Personally, this job makes me get so easily interested in anything that is interesting as long as it is interesting for me to find it interesting enough to be interesting..."

The 3 Smashers stared blankly at him.

"...Please, forget what I said..." Chris said with a sigh.

Squirtle rolled his eyes as he jumped to a light-blue pedestal, tapping it a bit with his feet. "Do you think these pedestals need to be activated with some sort of freaky chant?"

"They surely need some sort of chant... How the hell should I know, really?" Red asked annoyed. "We just got here!"

"Well, opinions are much appreciated, thank you very much," Squirtle said bored.

Chris sighed a bit. "Well, I do not find anything that interestin-do not give me those looks again! I just said that word one time!" he yelled before coughing. "A-anyway, there is nothing so...amusing about these pedestals for the time being... Maybe we should see if we can find more about this temple..."

"And speaking of research," Ivysaur began as he looked around. "Where'd Mewtwo go?"

The 4 Smashers turned back from where they came from and decided to run back to the entrance. Once reaching it, they looked to their left where the Psychic Pokémon, crossing his arms, stared at a big wooden fan inside a cage that adorned the frontal wall of the temple as 3 doors were located underneath it. The doors themselves were at the end of some small slopes that went up, reaching flat floor.

"...Nice fan," Red remarked as they all walked to Mewtwo while staring at the fan behind the bars.

"That is something I'm not giving my attention to," Mewtwo said as he pointed forward. "I'm more curious about those doors."

The group looked at the 3 doors on top of the small slope. To their left, there was a door with the symbol of a red sun, to their right, there was another door with the emblem of a blue moon, and in the center, there was the last door that had the image of a yellow planet.

The 5 Smashers began to walk towards the door to examine them. Mewtwo, while looking at the Sun Door, noticed a small slot. "Hmm...what could this be?" he asked to himself. "This seems to be a slot to insert something...like a tablet of some sort..."

"Well, there is another slot besides the door with the moon," Chris said as he knelt down to inspect the slot. "Maybe...it is a tablet as you said..."

"Same over here," Red said as he, Squirtle, and Ivysaur took a closer look at the slot besides the door with the planet emblem. "This one seems bigger, though..."

Ivysaur moved a vine to touch the slot. "...Nope, it needs a key or something. Pressing it won't make something happen."

Mewtwo looked at the door before glowing, holding out his right hand to use Psychic to try and open it. The door glowed for a bit, but the Psychic Pokémon suddenly stopped glowing before pulling his hand back, followed by a frown. "Force can't open these doors."

"Why did not you use more force?" Chris asked.

"I sensed some ancient energy within these doors that far surpass my powers," Mewtwo said. "Even Lucario's brute force won't be enough to break through them."

"Not even if he was pushed to the limit?"

"He wasn't completely pushed to the limit in the last battle because he had around 20 percent of his health left," Mewtwo pointed out. "In fact, he could have done better before h-"

"I-I know he disobeyed me which caused his defeat, but do not go that far when I am around..." Chris said.

"Fine," Mewtwo said. "Back on topic, we can't open these doors. Judging by the empty slots besides each door obviously mean they need them to open without using force."

"What?" Red asked as his Pokémon looked at the 2. "So we came here for nothing?"

"Not necessarily," Mewtwo said. "We were able to pinpoint the temple's location and forced Charizard to leave this place alone. In a few words, we saved this temple from getting wrecked."

"I see," Squirtle said as he looked around. "...Does this mean we're gonna come back here later to open the doors?"

"We should just leave," Mewtwo said. "There is nothing more worth mentioning rather than reporting we found the temple."

Chris looked down. "I feel a little bit ashamed for not doing much in this world..."

Ivysaur smiled a bit at him. "What about Wes's resolve? The guy looked like he realized how much of an ass he was to us."

"...I guess you are right," Chris said with a chuckle. "We found so little, but helped a lot."

Mewtwo turned around towards the exit. "For now, all I want to do is rest. That Ice Beam attack is starting to make me feel cold."

"You are cold," Ivysaur said, receiving a glare from Mewtwo. "...J-just kidding..."

"...You better," Mewtwo muttered before he left the temple, the others following him from behind.

Smash Mansion
Command Room

End of flashback

"And that all we could find," Mewtwo summarized. "If you ask me, nothing seems very important about the temple."

"I see..." Master Hand said. "Well, Tails did mention something about tablets for the temples that they couldn't find in their world."

"So what do we do for now?" Pichu asked.

"All we can do is wait for the radar to find another signal from another temple," the hand said. "Since we discovered the location of the Apotos Temple, we're going to keep an eye on it... For now..." He looked at all the Smashers. "...You guys have anything interesting to share with us?"

Silence...

"...I'll take that as a sign of a maybe..." Master Hand muttered. "Personally, I really liked when the army just targeted a world after we stopped them... I have to admit that this method is much slower and much more boring..."

"Geez, like we didn't know that already," Roy commented, looking bored.

"Shouldn't we try to...make them get over the truth?" Zelda asked. "They're acting like I did when you told me about it...except much worse."

Master Hand sighed. "Hello, you guys? Are you with us? Hello?"

Crazy Hand began to move up and down. "Ooh, ooh, I have an idea."

"Whatever it is, it's surely dangerous, so no," Master Hand said.

"Aww, but it'd help," Crazy Hand said. "And that is...wait."

Master Hand would have rolled his eyes if he had them. "Okay...everyone's going to do whatever you want in the mansion. You DON'T necessarily need to stay here all day so let's wait until they get back to normal, okay?"

Popo clapped his hands. "Ooh, ooh, I'm going to Chris's room to beat some records in some games."

Nana rolled her eyes as Popo ran away. "And I'll follow him so he doesn't make a fool out of himself."

"I thought he was already one," Yoshi said.

"Yes, but no one said someone could get even worse," Nana said.

Recalling what Popo said, Chris gasped. "W-wait, what is he going to do? C-come back here!" he yelled before running after Popo.

Several hours later...

Pretty much everyone had left the command room except for the stunned Sonic characters. The sounds of the computers echoed through the room as the radar kept its task to look for a temple.

And suddenly, the radar began to release beeping sounds, startling Tails as he snapped out from his state by shaking his head. "H-hey, you guys, the radar located a new temple!" he said to the others. "W-what the... Why are you 4 like that?" He looked at the floor. "And why is Chip lying down on the floor?"

The imp, as he clutched to a small ice cream stick, shivered as he stared up at the ceiling. "B-brain-freeze...sure damages your brain..." he muttered.

The 2-tailed fox didn't have an idea of what had happened during his whole trance. Getting panicked, he began to yell, "HEY, EVERYONE, SNAP OUT OF IT!"

At that moment, not only the other characters blinked in shock, but Master Hand appeared in front of them as he looked at Tails. "Finally, you're back to your senses," he said annoyed. "It's been 3 long and painful hours, you know!"

"That long?" Cream asked. "I thought it was days..."

"Pfft, yeah, right, days," Master Hand joked. "So anyway, are you 4..." He looked at Cheese. "...5 alright now?"

"T-that was a pretty big shocker I couldn't believe..." Amy said depressed. "Seriously, how should we know that big truth?"

"You know what? I'm calling everyone here so everything goes the right way," Master Hand said.

Several minutes later...

All the Smashers were now back at the command room after Master Hand calmed the Sonic characters down. Tails was now busy working with the radar to locate the signals of the temple's energies.

"Okay," Knuckles said with crossed arms. "It isn't a pretty big deal if we think about it again."

"It IS a pretty big deal if EVERYONE we meet starts to know about this. If everyone in the universes knows that they're you-know-what, then that would cause a big chaos and we don't want to do that sort of thing," Master Hand said. "That's why we need to keep that truth concealed for us only."

"I think I understand," Amy said. "All the commoners out there would start riots and the like."

"Exactly," Master Hand said pleased. "Glad to hear you understand." He picked up the imp from the floor. "For now, let's focus on the next temple. Tails, did it find it?" He tossed the imp at Sonic, who caught him on his arms.

Tails nodded. "Yeah, it found the temple. The next temple is the Spagonia Temple and it's..." He looked back at the PC. "...In the year 2700 SD, in a 17th century planet called Elicoor II..."

Elicoor II is second planet apart from Elicoor I. Other than the fact that most of its atmosphere is composed of neon and other noble gases, the second planet in the Elicoor system has an atmospheric composition that is similar to that of Earth. The planet's technology level is estimated to be equivalent to 17th century Earth. This planet is defined as an underdeveloped planet due to the fact there are highly-advanced planets besides it.

"What?" Tails asked surprised. "The year is quite high for the planet's century itself..."

"Age 2700 SD?" Samus asked. "My guess is that it's an universe with a long universal lifespan. What interests me is the fact about the 17th century planet you mentioned..."

Tails looked confused and worried. "Well, that's what the coordinates read. I have the radar research every single detail regarding the universe and that includes pretty much a lot of information."

Master Hand grumbled. "If you ask me, it's pretty weird. However, all we have now is the location of the temple somewhere around that planet, right?"

"Well, yeah," Tails said.

"Okay, show us the world."

Tails nodded as he transferred the image of the world to the big screen in front of all the Smashers. The image of the world displayed a normal road that led to an old town where people could be seen walking along the brick streets.

"It looks pretty normal to me," Mario commented.

"Yeah, but I don't believe it's the age 2700 in there," Sonic said as Chip shook with shivers. "It looks all boring and stuff."

"You aren't exactly the guy who likes history," Knuckles said bored.

"Okay, okay, stop before you 2 fight here," Master Hand said as he took a sheet of paper. "I've got all the necessary info for the next world."

"Video game," Amy corrected.

"World, video game, world sounds better," the hand said. "I don't want to say game, anyway."

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Current Status: Unknown
Race: Anyone (preferably space people and medieval-looking people)
Number of protagonists: 10
Level of danger: Medium
Members allowed to dispatch: 9
Highly recommended abilities: Technology prowess

Close to the exit to the hallway, Fox suddenly blinked after hearing the information of the world. His ears clearly heard "Star Ocean" being mentioned. "Star Ocean?" Fox muttered. "That couldn't be..."

"Do you know about this world, Chris?" Master Hand asked.

"W-well, unfortunately, it has been a long time since I last played that game," Chris admitted. "I am afraid I do not know very much about it like I used to."

"Figures, I guess," Master Hand said. "Well, time for us to organize the next party. This world is very new so please prepare yourselves for anything you expect to find there."

All the people in the room began to talk with each other, discussing about the next universe they needed to explore.

"As for you," Master Hand said as he looked at Chris. "Can you change to another job where you don't sound like that?"

Chris stared blankly at him. "If you mean how this job likes me to talk like some sort of sage...okay." The World Traveler changed to his Dragoon job. "There, is it better?"

"Definitely," Master Hand said. "Okay, buy some freebies, gather your team, and go to the new world."

Crazy Hand snickered. "Tell me those freebies are with me! I like to sell what I find."

"Shh, quiet," the hand muttered as Chris tilted his head confused. "Don't mind what he said, okay?"

"...Sure?" Chris said.

Jobs (None) - Stickers - Smashing Abilities (New!) - Items (New!)

Smash Coins in hand: 3601

-Smashing Abilities

Over Limit Lvl. 2 - 20000 Smash Coins

Final Smash Extension - 4000 Smash Coins

Extends the duration for all Smashers' Final Smashes, allowing more chances to inflict more damage on enemies (this could also give added extensions such as a final stronger attack). Added time for each Final Smash may vary.

Last Breath – 5000 Smash Coins

Full immunity to ultimate attacks that affect the whole party will always leave all party members at 1 percent left should the attack be strong enough to take them out.

Call me, Kirby! - 5000 Smash Coins

FLUDD Devices - 5000 Smash Coins

Mr. Utility Belt AKA Link - 5000 Smash Coins

Peach's Therapy - 8000 Smash Coins

Professor Kawashima Party Screen - 1000 Smash Coins

An useful application that allows Kawashima to display the status screen that lets the user know how well are each party member during and outside battle. This application is useful to know how much health a character has left so you know if the character is lying about having enough health or not.

-Items

Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Beam Sword - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Bob-omb - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Bumper - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Bunny Hood - 300 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Cracker Launcher - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Deku Nut - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Fan - 100 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Fire Flower - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Food (contains 10 dishes) - 400 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Franklin Badge - 400 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Freezie - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Golden Hammer - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Gooey Bomb - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Green Shell - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hammer - 700 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Heart Container - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Home-Run Bat - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Hothead - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Lightning - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Lip's Stick - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Maxim Tomato - 300 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Metal Box - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Motion-Sensor Bomb - 100 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Mr. Saturn - 100 Smash Coins - 100 copies
Pitfall - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Poison Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Poke Ball - 800 Smash Coins - 6 copies
Ray Gun - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Screw Attack - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Smart Bomb - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Smash Ball - 1000 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Smoke Ball - 100 Smash Coins - 5 copies
Soccer Ball - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Spring - 200 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Starman - 800 Smash Coins - 1 copy
Star Rod - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Mushroom - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Super Scope - 400 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Superspicy Curry - 300 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Team Healer - 200 Smash Coins - 3 copies
Timer - 500 Smash Coins - 2 copies
Unira - 200 Smash Coins - 4 copies
Warp Star - 600 Smash Coins - 2 copies

Assist Trophy - 500 Smash Coins - 1 copy

Items in hand:
Green Shell
Super Mushroom
Poison Mushroom
Superspicy Curry
Heart Container

Stored items:
None

Chris sighed after seeing the list. "I'm so close to get that ability to extend Final Smashes...and the Last Breath one sounds really handy as well..."

"You need to save a liiiiiiiiiittle more if you want bigger things," Crazy Hand said. "So, you giving up some money so I can buy myself a yatch?"

"Give money to you so you can buy yourself a yatch?" Chris asked. "...Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Master Hand floated to them. "Hey, we're running a business here. The Smash Coins you get are very valuable since they're acceptable in any universe's money currency. We do whatever we want with the money you give us."

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "...Can I ask a question? How do I even get the money? I know it instantly appears inside my wallet, but why does it appear?"

Master Hand chuckled. "Well, you see, that money appears out of the blue to reward your efforts for saving worlds," he said.

"But who rewards me with money?" Chris asked. "I find that really...questionable..."

"I'm responsible for that," Master Hand admitted.

"You're the responsible for the money appearing in my wallet?" Chris asked. "But if that's true, why don't you just fill it up?"

"I can't do that because of the fact I can't create money," Master Hand said, confusing the World Traveler more. "You see, I can only make legal money if you succeed in protecting a world or finishing a mission because rewarding you all for your efforts make the money legal. The reason why I have that ability is because I myself created the Smash Coins currency."

"Then how is it making money out of the blue ilegal while it is legal when we protect worlds?"

"Simply because you worked hard," Master Hand said annoyed. "I can fill you up your wallet, but the money you receive that way is so going to be ilegal because it's cheating your way to fortune and I don't want to be put in jail by doing that. Each coin has its own money code... Let's not talk more about how my powers to make money are, want to buy something or do you want to save more money?"

"I..." Chris still wanted to ask more, but decided not to. "...I think I'll save more money..." He took out his DS. "Actually, the application reminded me that I need to recharge my DS. Kawashima surely feels bored."

Master Hand pointed to the left over a table with a charger. "Over there is a charger for it. Use it so you wake him up again."

As the World Traveler carefully put the DS charging on the table, he walked back to the hands. "Okay, now assemble your party."

The World Traveler nodded as he looked back at the Smashers. Rubbing his chin, he looked around until Samus motioned at him to come to her. The dragoon looked confused before walking to her. "Yes?"

"May I come for this mission?" Samus asked. "I'm a little bit intrigued about the 16th century world in the year 2700."

"You yourself come from a very distant future, right?" Chris asked.

"That's right," Samus said. "I want to see if there are any high-advanced civilizations around the planet. I might not look like it, but I like to study spacial laws and universal history."

"Wow, that's remarkable," Chris said. "I didn't know you liked to study."

"Knowledge is a good weapon as they say," Samus said.

Chris chuckled. "Okay, I'll call you when we're ready."

"Understood," Samus said. "Let's enjoy the experience, shall we?"

[DededeCloneChris]

The World Traveler nodded before walking away from her. As he looked around, a yellow gloved hand reached for his right shoulder and pulled him quickly, where he looked a little bit scared before looking back to see C. Falcon looking down at him. "U-um, is something wrong?" Chris asked.

"Take me with you," C. Falcon said simply.

The dragoon looked up at him. "Let me guess. You want to come just because I told Samus she can come, right?"

"Good, we're thinking the same," the captain said. "So, can I join the group?"

"Just...why are you so fixated on Samus? I know it's been really obvious that you like women, but why her?"

C. Falcon looked around to see if anyone was listening. Fortunately, nobody was listening. "It's because I think she's the one meant for me..."

"And I thought EVERY girl was the one for you," Chris said.

"Look, I've heard Snake has some feelings for her," the captain said as he pointed at an uninterested Snake on the lower left corner of the room where he had crossed arms while leaning against the wall. "And I don't want to lose her for him."

"If you're that interested in Samus, why don't you act professional for once?"

"Act professional?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "I'm asking that because many people in my world sees you as some sort of...poster boy..."

"Poster boy? Hey, are you insulting Captain Falc-"

The World Traveler blocked the captain's mouth. "What were you going to say?"

"Uru you unsultung Cuptuin Fulcun?" C. Falcon asked before pushing Chris's hand away.

"Look, you really need to change for the better if you want people to think you're cooler."

"Do you think I'm cool?" C. Falcon asked with a grin.

"...Not really, honestly..."

C. Falcon stared blankly at Chris.

"...That's because of your attitude," Chris said. "If you want people to take you seriousl-"

"I use Falcon Punch on them."

"No need for violence either!" Chris yelled. "Ugh, changing a 37 years old adult to a better example of a man is going to be such a drag..."

C. Falcon rubbed his chin. "Are you telling me I need to change my ways for people to take me seriously?"

"I unfortunately bet a very few of us take you seriously...no offense..." Chris said. "...Even I don't take you seriously..."

The captain thought hard for a moment.

"...If you want," Chris began," I can help you out to become better...provided I can do that..."

"Hmm..." C. Falcon crossed his arms. "And if I do change, is Samus going to take me more seriously?"

"...I'm sure of it," Chris said. "Samus is a very blunt but nice person. I think she could end up liking you if you changed your cliche hero ways and stupid flirting speech."

"I do all those things?"

"You're an easy read for anyone here," Chris said bored. "Why do you think I know so much about you?"

C. Falcon grinned. "Well, at least you don't know my real identity's name."

"Weird, I thought you real full name was Captain Douglas Jay Falco-" The World Traveler couldn't finish his sentence as the captain took the teen under his right arm, taking him down where they were both crouching on the floor as nobody else noticed (except for one who was always watching Chris). "W-what the hell are you doing to me?!" Chris muttered.

"I'm going to be frank with you here," C. Falcon said in a tone that made Chris shake in fear. "Nobody else, except you for some reason, knows my true name. I haven't told anyone here my real name at all because I fear they could make fun of it, especially my last name."

"W-well, from where I come from, many know you real name is Douglas Ja-"

"Stop repeating it!" C. Falcon yelled as he put more pressure on Chris's throat. "Where did you hear of my name, anyway?"

The World Traveler coughed a bit. "...Wikipedia...the source of all information..."

C. Falcon let go of Chris (letting him fall to gasp for breath) as he stood up and sighed, noticing no one payed attention to them. "Well, don't go telling anyone about my real name...or else..."

Chris looked a bit freaked out as he stood up, coughing a bit. "W-what the hell, Doug?"

C. Falcon glared at him.

"I-I mean, what the hell, Falcon? (Now I'm starting to talk like Black Shadow...)" Chris asked as he looked angry at him. "There was absolutely NO need for violence!"

"I'm really serious about my real name," C. Falcon muttered so nobody else would hear them. "I'm just giving you a friendly advice before commiting a huge mistake."

"...Oh," Chris said with an amused look. "It was a friendly advice, then."

C. Falcon grinned. "Exactly."

"Now I see," Chris said in some sort of evil tone as a familiar Aura Pokémon appeared behind him, red eyes glaring directly at C. Falcon's face. "Well, Lucario here wants to give you a friendly advice as well."

The captain didn't like the glaring look on Lucario as he began to get closer to C. Falcon. "W-wait, what is he going to give me as a friendly advice?" C. Falcon asked as Lucario showed his fangs at him, aura flaring in his hands.

Chris chuckled as he turned around. "Lucario is going to tell you to never, EVER, use violence on me for something stupid." He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. "Give him a piece of my mind, will you, Lucario?"

The World Traveler ignored the screams of pain and roars from behind his back as nobody else wanted to look at the small massacre. It was implied that almost everyone didn't exactly care about C. Falcon, which made Chris feel sympathy.

Too bad for Douglas that Chris didn't feel a lot of sympathy.

"And by the way, you can come with us," Chris said. "...Doug," he muttered as Lucario roared loudly behind his back.

The World Traveler noticed Roy alone as he looked at Marth and Ike talking to each other. Recalling that Roy hadn't participated in much missions lately, Chris walked to him. "Roy, do you want to come with us?"

Roy looked at him. "Oh, what? You want me to come?"

"Well, it did say medieval-looking people could come so you look like one."

"Do I look that medieval?"

"You're wearing a blue armor with yellow carvings all over it, you're using a sacred sword, and above all," Chris continued as he pointed behind Roy. "You're wearing a cape."

Roy chuckled nervously as he scratched his head a bit. "O-okay, maybe I do look medieval..."

Chris crossed his arms. "So, do you want to come?"

"Sure," Roy said. "I'd like to see the towns of the next world myself. I could feel right at home if I go there."

"Okay, wait for me to call you," Chris said as he walked away from Roy, who decided to go and talk with Marth and Ike. "(Hmm... I think I recall seeing people who looked like Pit in the game... I have some memories left about it so...)"

The World Traveler decided to go to the angel of Skyworld who was sitting down on a nearby chair. The look on his closed eyes made Chris think the angel was meditating.

"Pit?" Chris began.

The angel opened his eyes and looked at him. "Oh, it's you."

"What are you doing sitting here without talking to anyone?"

"Well, I was getting bored of not doing anything else so I decided to just meditate out of the blue..." Pit admitted with a chuckle. "It's pretty silly of me, right?"

"Maybe..." Chris said. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come with us to the next world and find the temple."

Pit stood up. "I may as well go to get out of boredom. Seriously, I need to do something like fighting."

"Didn't Master Hand say anyone could put up matches against anyone?"

"He did say that, but...I didn't even think about it..."

Chris looked around. "Or everyone for that matter," he added.

Pit shrugged. "Oh well, I'm going to go with you if you don't mind. I hope nobody in that world freaks out for my wings." He looked at his wings. "Sometimes I wish I could hide them completely, but sometimes I think there are no ways to do that."

"Maybe Master Hand knows a way?"

"Possibly...I'll ask him," Pit said before looking at him. "For now, I want to see what we can find in the next world."

"I'll call you in a few, then," Chris said as he nodded to Pit before walking away, leaving the angel to do nothing else but sit down on the chair again. The World Traveler thought it was a good idea to take Pit along.

"Oh, Chris," Tails began as he stopped Chris from walking away to the area close to the hallway. "May I ask you to take me along, please?"

"Huh? Why?" Chris asked.

Tails jumped off from his seat and looked up at him. "The reason why I want to come along is because maybe I should get a closer picture of the Spagonia Temple and examine it with what Professor Pickle told me," he explained. "You guys didn't find much, but I want to see with my own eyes the temples for once. Also, can I ask you to take Sonic along as well?"

At that moment, Sonic quickly appeared, resting his right arm over a table with more computers on them. "Yeah, you should take me with you."

"Why do you want to come, Sonic?" Chris asked.

Sonic looked serious. "Isn't this whole deal about the temples related to our world?" he asked before frowning. "It has to do with us and I wanna participate in these missions to save the world from this crazy catastrophe."

The World Traveler knew Sonic had a point.

"Besides, I may help you more," Tails said. "I could run a complete analysis of the Spagonia Temple to do some research and find out with...these..."

Sonic and Chris looked at Tails taking 2 small tablets behind his back. The hedgehog blinked at the odd items as he took a closer look at them. "Hey..." Sonic trailed off.

"...Wait, those tablets' shapes...they're the same as the slots in the Apotos Temple..." Chris said.

The tablets that Tails had had the same emblems that the group found in the temple. One tablet had the emblem of a red sun, while the other tablet had the emblem of a blue moon. The 2 tablets had curve shapes with their outer edges shaped with squares.

Tails nodded. "In fact, these are the only tablets we could find back in our world at Spagonia. Some girls, Lucia and Ippolita, gave me the Moon Tablet, while the Sun Tablet was given to me by an old man named Otto." He looked at Sonic. "I have to tell you that Lucia and Otto seemed to know about the temples because when I asked them where the temples were before, they both gave me these tablets, saying that we knew more than other people did. I wonder why they said that, though..."

"Maybe they know about Dark Gaia?" Sonic asked.

"They would know it if they were the guardians that Professor Pickle told me about...but I'm not sure..." Tails said in doubt. "...But that isn't so important for now. I want to go see if these tablets can do something in the Spagonia Temple. The professor told me that the tablets surely are for the temple."

"Okay, then," Chris said. "You 2 can come."

"Oh, and also that includes Chip as well," Sonic said as he pointed at the shocked imp on a nearby chair. "It's just a small brain-freeze, Chip..."

The World Traveler looked at the immobile imp on the chair, not responsing at Sonic who began poking Chip's forehead. Shifting his eyes, Chris slowly backed away from them as he looked around for the next member close to the hallway. "Let's see...I have Samus, C. Falcon, Roy, Pit, Sonic, Tails, and Chip who doesn't count as a member..." He looked around. "...Who should I choose now?"

"Hey."

The dragoon heard a voice coming from behind him. Chris knew well the voice as he turned around to find Fox.

"Oh," Chris began. "What is it?"

Fox crossed his arms. "I want to go with you to that world."

"Really now? What made you decide?"

The vulpine looked away. "It's because...the name of that world rang a bell in my mind..."

"What?" Chris looked confused. "How?"

Fox looked back at him and shifted his eyes to see if there was someone paying attention to them, ignoring C. Falcon's screams for help. "Look, I'm going to tell you my reason as long as you promise you're not going to tell anyone this. What I'm going to tell you could be easily used for anyone else to annoy me to the max."

"Is this some kind of secret that could be embarrassing?"

"Yeah, but it's not embarrassing to me," Fox said as he slowly took from his back the book he found. "See this?"

The dragoon stared down at the book. "What about that book?"

"I found this book in my room," Fox said. "It's one of my most important books I had during my childhood."

"...Tales of Star Ocean?" Chris read the cover. "...Wait, Tales of Star Ocean?"

Fox nodded. "I guess you know where I'm getting at, right?"

The World Traveler looked back at the image of the world in front of the Smashers before looking back at the vulpine. "You...want to come because of the name of the world?"

"I'm curious, Chris," Fox said. "I mean, this book has fairy tales of a vast universe called Star Ocean, but after I heard that the world exists...I want to see it," he admitted. "I want to see if it's pure coincidence or the real thing the book explains."

"...You said it was your childhood book, right?" Chris asked. "...You used to read this?"

Fox smiled a bit. "I didn't read this book but...my father..."

"...Oh..." Chris looked away. "S-sorry if I made you remember something yo-"

"Oh no, it's okay," Fox said. "Anyway, this is a fairy tale's book my father used to read me when I was 4," he explained. "When I was that little, I always liked to know more about the space and the universe. I liked science-fiction a lot because I found it too amazing and cool..." He blushed a bit. "W-well, that's how I thought of it when I was little, anyway."

"I think...it's cute," Chris said.

Fox glared at him.

"I-I mean to say it the good way," the dragoon said. "Don't take it that badly..."

The vulpine sighed as he put the book away. "So yeah, I want to come along and see that universe." He smiled a bit. "If it's exactly how the book described, I want to see the people and see if I can find the protagonists. I liked to hear a lot from them every night my father used to tell me that story to make me fall asleep."

"I think it's amusing," Chris said, "your fairy tale's book being a real world."

"So, can I come?"

"Of course," Chris said. "You'll see if it's the same as in the book."

Fox chuckled and nodded. "Thanks, tell me when we need to go."

The World Traveler nodded back at him before walking away. As Fox watched Chris waling away, he frowned and looked down.

"(That book surely brings good memories...and...bad ones I don't want to remember...)" Fox thought in shame.

Chris just needed another person to tag along with them. Unfortunately, he didn't have a possible member in his mind until his eyes focused on a certain lupine with crossed arms, leaning against the wall as he seemed to be in deep thought with his closed eye.

Shrugging at the silent yet serious look, Chris gulped a bit and walked to him. "...Wolf?"

There was no response from the older character.

"...Wolf, are you listening or are you sleeping while standing up?"

The lupine opened his right eye, instantly glaring at the dragoon. "What do you want, kid?"

"(He didn't really learn not to call me kid again, right?) W-well, I saw you thinking about something..."

Wolf looked away. "Like you should know everything I do. You don't have to know what I think."

"I-I was just a little worried, that's all..." Chris admitted.

"Tsk, worrying about me...please..." Wolf muttered annoyed. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not of your business, kid."

"Like I said before...I just wanted to see what was bothering you..." The World Traveler thought for a moment. "...Do you want to come with us?"

The lupine looked at him. "I never said I wanted to come..." He pushed himself off the wall. "But whatever, I'm coming."

"Really?" Chris asked.

"I don't have anything else better to do here," Wolf said. "I do know Fox is going, but he won't change my decision. Besides, I don't want birdbrain to glare all the time at me whenever I look at him."

"How is Fox different?"

"Mainly because he at least is...worthy, I should say," Wolf said. "I don't care about the birdbrain at all. Fox, on the other hand, can be tolerated."

"Oh, I see," Chris said. "It's mainly because of rivalry, right?"

The lupine walked away from him as he said, "That'd be one reason."

"...It would be one reason?" Chris asked. "W-what do you mean by that? Are you planning to do something to him?"

"It's none of your business, kid," Wolf said. "Anyhow, can we just go and fight that army before I change my mind?"

The dragoon sighed before nodding. "Whatever you say, sir..."

After calling all the selected members, Master Hand watched as Lucario, carrying an unconscious (and badly hurt) C. Falcon, tossed him down on the floor before the Aura Pokémon received a rub on the head by Chris as he growled before walking away.

"C. Falcon, wake up," Master Hand said. "We're not sending dead carcasses to missions."

The captain grumbled annoyed before he stood up, smacking his helmet a bit. "I-I woke up..." the captain said as he received a bored look from Chris.

"Typical," Samus commented simply, giving the captain a mental hit.

"And he somehow survived all that because..." Roy trailed off.

"Before you all go, though," Master Hand began, "you need to sort out the stickers you have. We all watched the fight against the Shadow Nightmare and the use of the stickers came really handy, right?"

"Hey, that's true," Roy said. "It became easier to fight back the monster by using the stickers."

The World Traveler took the stickers out. "Ooh, there are many..." he complained a bit but sighed. "I don't want to have harder battles so we may as well sort everything equally between everyone here..."

Some minutes later...

Everyone in the chosen group had already sorted out the stickers they had.

C. Falcon flexed his right arm. "What a shame, the Young Cricket sticker didn't give me that much of power. I just felt a little swelling but that's all."

"Good thing the 9-Volt sticker have my Grapple Beam more electric power," Samus said. "I checked the status of it and it did increase for a bit."

"Pfft, good for you," Roy said annoyed. "The Kat sticker didn't give me much slash power. I could have used the Meta Knight sticker and give me a huge boost of 32 but no it HAD to be designed for Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede for some reason... Dedede doesn't even use slash attacks for that matter! How does that make sense?"

Wolf ignored him and looked away. "I must say that the sticker with the girl made me feel a little bit stronger...enough to make me feel somewhat ashamed at the small boost."

"I hate to admit it, but the 19-Volt sticker didn't make me feel anything stronger as well," Fox admitted. "However, the one with...that cubic version of me did give my Blaster even more energy than before; a big one for that matter."

"You just were lucky, Fox," Wolf said annoyed, making Fox grin.

Chris looked pleased. "I'm glad I increased my defense for a bit with the Dribble sticker. Battering resistance counts as defense, right?"

"I guess," Pit said. "My ramming attacks got a little bit stronger as well with the Ana sticker."

Sonic looked annoyed, being the one who didn't even get to use a sticker. "Hey, not fair. I didn't get to use a sticker."

"You already have that werehog transformation," Wolf pointed out. "Doesn't that give you all the strength you need?"

"Pfft, yeah but I HATE that form," Sonic said. "Seriously, isn't there a special sticker I can use?"

Master Hand thought for a moment. "Since I'm in a good mood today, Sonic, I'm going to give you a special sticker for free that you can only use..." The hand twirled his index finger to produce a sticker that fell down slowly on Sonic's right hand.

"...What the hell?" Sonic asked before glaring up at the hand. "Is this a joke?"

"What do ya have there?" Amy asked as she looked from behind Sonic's right shoulder. Her eyes looked happy. "Heheheh, look at that."

Sonic held up a sticker...of Amy, pumping her fists at her sides. "Is this for real?"

"Hey, it's a medium size sticker," Master Hand said. "It gives you a good boost for your leg attacks."

"C'mon, Sonic," Amy said as she shook Sonic a bit. "Every time you look at that lovely sticker will remind you that you have my support at all times from anywhere you go. Don't you think that's very romantic? Love boost your powe-"

"Keep going on and I'll rip this sticker," Sonic interrupted.

Amy took a step back and pouted. "Oh, that's SO nice of you, Sonic."

"Just put the sticker on and let your legs feel the powah," Crazy Hand said annoyed, receiving some looks from some of the Smashers. "What? You guys like easy ways to get easy power."

"For once, you're right," Master Hand muttered as Sonic, annoyed, put the sticker on his stand, his legs swelling a bit before the feeling stopped. "And no, even if you DO feel power surging within you, you don't grow muscles or something like that."

"Way to ruin all the fun," Wolf commented.

Master Hand seemed to look annoyed. "Look, you guys can possibly gain a whole lot of power by using the stickers, but you need limits so you don't look like freaks. One of you could someday overpass Lucario's brute force by using these stickers."

C. Falcon liked the sound of the explanation. "So, if I put a lot o-"

"But there has to be limits in order for you to not destroy the whole field where you're fighting," Master Hand said. "Let's say you get a boost of power of 100. With that big amount, you could easily carry a tree with your hands and you wouldn't even feel the weight at all."

"If you ask me, that would be beneficial," Sonic said.

Master Hand shook himself. "Unfortunately for you, I put a limit in your enhacements in order to make you look normal. If you get to use a sticker with a boost of 100, you won't carry a tree."

"So that means the stickers won't make us stronger?" Fox asked.

"The stickers will make you stronger and you'll see the effects during battles," the hand explained. "But they're not going to allow you to carry things unless if it's an emergency. Do you really want to see Luigi carrying a big tree?"

"T-that would be nice..." Luigi commented from afar.

"That...would look messed up..." Roy commented.

"Hey!" Luigi called out.

"And since half of you would want to have that power because it makes sense you could carry big things, you just can't so nobody else here thinks is unfair," Master Hand explained.

"I guess I understand," Samus said. "We don't want to stand out from a crowd."

"We already stand out," Pit said.

"Actually, I meant stand out even more."

"U-um, will you guys hurry?" Tails asked. "We need to go now before the Subspace Army finds the temple before us. You told me they're after the temples as well, right?"

"Chill out," Sonic said as he ducked to pick up the unconscious Chip from the floor. "We need to enjoy the world a little bit, right?"

"You always like to do that a lot," Tails pointed out. "Besides, this is very crucial to our world."

"It's ALWAYS very crucial to our world," Sonic said as he poked Chip's eyes a bit.

"W-well, yeah... Can we just go?"

The World Traveler almost forgot that he left his DS charging on the nearby table. In a hurry, Chris went over the table to get his DS. Opening it to see if it was ready, he was greeted by Kawashima. "It was about time you remembered to charge the DS. It gets pretty dark in here for me, you know..."

"S-sorry, I promise I won't forget again," Chris said embarrassed.\

"What's done is done, like they say," Kawashima said. "What matters is that you charged the DS fully."

The World Traveler nodded to him before keeping his DS in his pocket. "I'm ready here," he said, the others nodding as a sign that they were ready.

"Without further interruptions, good luck," Master Hand said before Chris made the portal appear, prompting the chosen group to enter it before the portal vanished.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Tradin Town of Peterny
West Peterny

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Lively Step

In some alleys, the portal appeared and the Smashers stepped out from it before it vanished in thin air. The group found themselves in a small alley that was close to a central square.

"Well, it was random to appear in this alley," Roy commented. "Shall we go see this place?"

"As long as people don't freak out to see Pit's wings and Samus's suit," Chris said.

"I hope..." Pit muttered.

Tails looked at them. "Let's see if we can find information regarding the Spagonia Temple from the people here."

Sonic nodded. "Right-o." He looked down at Chip. "Hey, is your brain-freeze thing still there with you?"

"Blururururu," Chip mumbled as he quickly shook his head and floated in the air. He looked around the alley somewhat shocked. "Did I die? Wow, heaven looks like a dark alley..."

"Er, actually, we're already in the next world," Chris said.

"Really now? Ooh, I lost the briefing part, then..."

Samus moved her hand. "I'll fill you up with everything you didn't hear back in the mansion."

Chip smiled a bit. "Oh, thanks, Ms. Samus."

The bounty hunter chuckled a bit at the name. "Please, just call me Samus."

"Alright, Ms. Samus."

Samus stared blankly at him. "...I told you to call me Samus, not Ms. Samus."

"Affirmative, Ms. Samus."

"Samus."

"Okay, Ms. Samus."

Samus knew very well that Chip was going to keep addressing her with a formality. "You know what? Forget what I said..."

"Right, Samus."

Samus rolled her eyes at this.

"Hey, if you don't mind, I'll just walk out from this dirty hole," Wolf said annoyed as he began to walk out the alley.

The others later decided to walk out from the alley as well, finding out they were in a bustling town. They all looked around as many different people walked from the west and east. The Smashers found medieval-looking houses and shops, men wearing rural clothes as they were in groups laughing together, women wearing long skirts that almost touched the floor as they carried baskets with food as some were walking with children, and shops with vendors that adorned the whole brick street.

Overall, the city lived up to be a commercial center of trade.

Peterny is a city and commercial hub connecting the royal city Aquios of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria (located north) with the three surrounding kingdoms (the Kingdom of Airyglyph to the south, and Kingdom of Gaitt to the east). Unlike Aquios, with its decidedly religious bent, this town is an advanced center of commerce, and acts almost as a second capital of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. Peterny is the commercial heart of the whole continent of Gaitt.

"This place looks pretty normal to me," Roy said. "Heck, it makes me feel I'm in my own home."

Fox looked around before crossing his arms. "This is just like the book said... Planets that were underdeveloped because many other planets had very advanced technology..." Fox muttered before he smiled a bit. "This is good, I guess."

"U-um," Pit began as he looked nervous. "Aren't the people going to freak out because of my wings?"

At that moment, a kid that came running from the west stopped in front of them and pointed a finger at the nervous angel. "Mommy, mommy, look! There's a Featherfolk person here!"

Featherfolk is a race of people with large wings on their backs, descended from birds. The process of evolution has split the humerus bone of the Featherfolk in two, allowing this remarkable race to possess both wings and arms. Featherfolk are extremely light, and can use the wings on their backs to fly for a short period of time.

"...Featherfolk?" Chip repeated confused before a woman came from the same direction where the kid came from. She grabbed his hand before bowing at the group.

"Oh, I'm so sorry if my child bothered you," she apologized.

"N-not at all. He just got surprised by seeing our friend here," Samus said before the woman looked at Pit.

"Oh, you must be one of the Featherfolk people from the Sanmite Republic of the west," the woman said. "Since this town is located between 3 kingdoms, there are many different travelers that use to pass through here. You must be one of them." the woman gasped. "O-oh, sorry for talking so suddenly, but I need to take my child to go shopping. I don't want to make us starve for today's dinner."

The Smashers didn't respond as the woman and her child (waving a hand to them) walked away to the east, disappearing from the crowd of people.

"...That was good enough for me to believe they don't mind how we all look," Tails said. "Still, what are Featherfolk?"

"The closest answer would be that it's a race," Samus said. "Pit surely resembles one of them so I guess that's it. In a few words, nobody will judge him."

Pit sighed in relief. "I'm glad for that, really..."

Tails walked to the street and looked around before looking back at the group. "So, what do we do now? Should we separate and find out information if somebody heard of the temple?"

"I don't think it's a good idea," Samus said. "There's an awful lot of people in this town. We could easily get lost between the whole crowd."

"We rather stick together, then?" Roy asked.

"It seems for now," Pit said. "What if somebody could yelp?"

"That's the best choice for now," Fox said. "Maybe there's a place in here that has a good source of information."

Chip, floating to the street, looked to the west to find a small path that lead to a door. "Hey, how about over there?"

The Smashers walked to his spot to see the relatively small path to a door. Over the door, there was a sign that read "Craftsman's Guild" in yellow paint. Some people walked out from the door, mixing up with the crowd already walking in the brick street.

"A guild..." Wolf rubbed his chin. "...For once, I'm going to say that there's the best place to find the info about those ruins."

"Temple," Tails corrected.

"Same thing," Wolf said annoyed before walking towards the door.

"Is he always going to be the one walking first?" Chip asked.

Fox frowned. "You'll never understand him as much as I do, trust me."

"I'd say let's go and see what we can find in that place. Let's check it out," Sonic said with a grin as he began to walk towards the door, the others soon following.

Craftsman's Guild

Once the group entered inside the building, they didn't expect that the inside was a little bit smaller than the eye could think. They found 2 steps of stairs in front of them where they lead to wooden floor. Looking to their left, over a wooden handrail, they found the front wall filled with drawers that had dozens of documents, scrolls, and notes that stuck out.

Further to the left, there was a girl sleeping deeply over a desk with some papers. The girl had brown hair with 2 ponytails, each one at the sides of her head. The girl looked very young, wearing a black shirt underneath her blue garment, as she held some sort of a stick with a glove under her right hand, pointing its index finger to the window (called handy stick).

"...This isn't exactly the place I expected to see..." C. Falcon commented.

Chip flew over the handrail to look at the sleeping girl. The Smashers looked at each other before they all walked over the wooden floor, standing in front of the desk while the girl slept.

"Hey, you there," Wolf began as he tapped his hand's nails on the desk.

Suddenly, the girl quickly woke up, looking normally at the group as she waved the handy stick to the side of her right shoulder. "Are you here to sign up yourselves to become inventors?" she asked with some enthusiasm.

"Wow," Chip began. "She's amazing. She didn't have to mumble things!"

Ignoring the excitement of the imp, Roy decided to speak up. "Er, hi."

"Oh, hello to you all," the girl said with a chuckle. "Did you all come here to sign up to become inventors for the Craftsman's Guild?"

"Actually, no," Pit admitted. "We're here to ask for information that we need to know."

"Information?" the girl repeated. "Hmm, information... Are you sure you don't want to become inventors?"

"Why would we want to become inventors all of a sudden? Don't put words in our mouths," Wolf responded harshly.

The girl pointed her handy stick at the lupine. "I'm glad you ask that," she said before Wolf slapped the glove away with the back of his right hand. "People nowadays would do anything to become inventors because the economy of Peterny is very famous around this planet," she explained. "The most inexperienced fellow can produce a lot of money if he or she works hard in the 8 different fields of inventions."

Fox shook his head. "We're not here to sign up."

"Really now?" the girl asked. "People mainly come here to sign up, otherwise they don't do anything," she said. "Please, tell me you came here to sign up."

"No," Tails said. "We came here to see if you could give us information about a temple."

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about a temple," the girl said. "This is not exactly the center of information, y'know..."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "What a waste of time, then..."

The girl thought for a moment. "Hmm..." She remained silent before speaking. "Oh, I know what you could do to get what you want."

"You know of a place where we can get info?" C. Falcon asked.

"Yep," the girl said, "right here."

The Smashers stared blankly at her as she smiled to them.

"...You just said this isn't exactly the center of information," Chris pointed out.

The girl chuckled. "Well, yeah, I did say that...but I didn't say the people who are signed up as inventors know about it."

Wolf narrowed his eye at her. "What do you mean by that? There isn't anybody else in here except for all of us."

"Silly," the girl said with a small giggle. "I can call people through this handy item..." She looked at drawers of the desk where she pulled one to open it, finding some device that looked like a cellphone except far more sophisticated with holographic applications and transparent blue skin that she showed to the group. "See this? My Compact Communicator allows me to contact anyone no matter how far they are from me."

Tails was the only one of the whole group that looked amazed at the item. "W-wow, just look at that..."

The girl chuckled before she put the cellphone down. "I guess I haven't introduced myself properly yet," she said before coughing a bit. "Thank you for coming here. My name is Welch Vineyard at your service."

Welch Vineyard is a young woman who runs the Craftsman's Guild in Peterny. This working woman is smart, good-looking, has a good personality, and even the Guild Master who leads the Craftsman's Guild is no match for her. Welch is a very reliavable person of the guild that organizes patents, item reports, and available items in the shops across all Elicoor II.

As a side note, Welch could be considered the "Final Fantasy's Cid of Star Ocean" due to the fact she appears in all Star Ocean games with the same job.

"Nice to meet you, Welch..." Samus said unsure. "Did you say there were inventors who probably know about the temple we're looking for?"

The group didn't think that the girl had a plan in mind for them.

"(Okay, I'm getting them interested. I need to move on with my plan so they want to become inventors,)" Welch thought. "Yeah, of course. There's a lot of people in the guild that come from all around the planet here. There are some that have come from other distant planets as well."

"Hmm..." Fox crossed his arms. "If that's true, they surely know a lot about the different regions in here, right?"

"Yep, that's the gist of it," Welch said happy. "However, we have a policy here (that I just made up) that keeps others from meeting our inventors because we like our opponents to stay away from knowing what we plan to create."

"We're not allied with anyone," Pit pointed out.

Welch clapped her hands together. "Better yet, then!"

Wolf looked bored at her as he crossed his arms and leaned close to the window's wall. "Let me get this straight. You want us to sign ourselves as inventors just so your guild gets more people by convincing us that those other inventors know about something that they surely don't know just to lure us into joining."

Welch began to sweat a little as she kept her happy look. "(Rats, they're sharp...) W-well, now that you mention it, we do follow our policy with the right strict level. So you see, we can't let you know about our information unless you join us as fellow inventors."

"Just how many people are inventors?" Roy asked.

The girl took a scroll from the desk where she opened it to read it, narrowing her eyes a bit. "We have over 9,000,000 inventors."

The scroll clearly said 500, though.

Welch put the scroll on the desk, looking at the surprised looks of some of the Smashers. "You see now? We're a pretty famous guild for having so little space in here."

Chip looked down at the same scroll before descending to grab it. Welch, without looking, used her handy stick to pull the scroll down to fall over the edge of the desk into a trash can. The imp looked down sadly.

"...Well, it appeals to me, alright," Roy said.

"Yes," Pit said. "With that many people, there's bound to be a lot of them who know about the temple."

"I have to say, I'm impressed at the amount," Fox remarked.

"Who would have thought that this guild was so popular?" Tails asked.

"Sounds good enough for me," Samus said.

Chris looked relieved. "We can find out about the temple's whereabouts after all."

"So then?" Welch asked excited, not noticing that Chip flew down the floor where he walked around the desk to see the scroll. "Do you want to sign up as inventors?"

"I'm not sure, though..." Sonic said. "What do we have to do?"

"Simple," Welch began as Chip walked back with the scroll. "There are 8 different fields where you can create items: Engineering, Smithery, Writing, Cooking, Alchemy, Synthesis, Compounding, and Crafting."

Chip opened the scroll and tilted his head.

"Those are all the fields where Item Creation can be used," Welch explained as Chip began to fly up, getting the attention of Sonic who looked at the scroll before looking bored at it and Welch.

"Wow, you were blind to see there are only 500 inventors," Sonic said bored.

Welch sweat dropped at this as many of them looked bored at her. "...R-really? Wow, I thought it said 9,000,000..."

Annoyed by the constant lies, Wolf banged his left fist hard on the desk. "Get to the point already, girl."

"Oh, sure," Welch said with a giggle. "Truth is, I wanted all of you to join the guild seeing that you look so different from most inventors out there. You know what they say, different minds for exotic items."

"You just made that up," Samus pointed out.

"It's one of the guilds' catchphrases, okay?" Welch said. "You would know if YOU were inventors." She looked at them. "Anyhow, wanna be an inventor?"

Roy crossed his arms. "The fact you have 500 people could be still helpful..."

"I swear they're very good," Welch said. "They come from all directions to increase the production of rare and valuable items."

"And where can we find those inventors?" Pit asked.

"Tell you what," Welch began. "I'll tell you where they are if you sign up to be inventors. If you don't want to invent anything, well, we'll accept only your membership until you consider making items. How does that sound? Everyone will be happy that way."

Fox thought for a moment. "Hmm...you have a deal with me."

"Oh well, I think that works," C. Falcon said.

"Nice," Sonic commented as he put the scroll back on the desk. "I hate to work, anyway."

"(But I wanted to be an inventor...)" Tails thought disappointed.

Welch waved her handy stick in the air. "Alrighty, then." She pushed some papers away to get registration forms. "Here are your forms. Please fill the required information for you to step up in the field of Item Creation."

"I'm not creating a single thing for you, okay?" Wolf said.

"(You'll be the first one to create something before long... They all fall for the challenge to be a professional...)" Welch thought.

All the Smashers (including Tails and even Chip) signed up the forms. In some minutes, they were all done as they all piled their forms on the desk. Welch, clapping her hands a bit, took the forms and took a look at each one.

"Ooooh, nice info," Welch remarked before putting the forms down. "Okay, welcome to Craftsman's Guild! We'll be glad to have more members around in order to expand the industry of Item Creation!"

"We said we weren't going to create anything," Pit pointed out.

"(You'll create items before long,)" Welch thought. "Oh, right, sorry about that. I get very excited myself when new inventors join."

In order to get to the point, Fox coughed a bit. "Can you tell us where we can find the inventors' location?" Fox asked.

"Sure," Welch said as she walked to the window where she pointed at it with her thumb. "They're right over across the street."

The group looked outside. In front of the Craftsman's Guild, there was a long workshop where smoke came out from some chimneys. Shadows of people walking around on the other sides of the window could be seen.

"Are you kidding me?" Sonic began. "The place was just across the street?"

"Yep," Welch said. "It's very convenient to have the workshop close to the guild's headquarters, right?"

Wolf looked at her. "You mean you just tricked us into joining this group?"

"...Maybe."

The lupine frowned at this. "At least I read the form's rules."

Welch chuckled as she walked back to her desk. "Okay then, you may go to the workshop and meet the inventors... Oh, by the way," she began as she raised her handy stick. "I forgot to mention this, but there's an owner of the workshop in front of this place that occupies the entire workshop."

"What about the owner?" Samus asked.

"I'm telling you, when he first arrived here, he was a newbie at Item Creation," Welch said. "When time passed, he began to recruit almost all the inventors across the whole continent until he gathered almost all inventors under his group. Even since he gathered all of them, they've been recognized as the most talented inventors."

"So is that owner friendly or not?" Pit asked.

"Nah, he's surely the nicest guy around," Welch said. "I get a lot of conversations with him every time patents come here. He's a real hard worker for being just a teen."

Tails rubbed his chin. "The owner is a teen, then?"

"(And quite handsome for me...a little bit,)" Welch thought. "Yep. I don't know if he'll let you use the workshop or even let you meet the inventors, but he's pretty nice with anyone he meets."

Samus looked at the group. "Then we should get going."

"Alright, then," Welch nodded. "Hope to see you guys working as inventors."

At that moment, the door of the guild suddenly opened. A tanned girl walked inside and looked at Welch from the entrance. The young girl was about 4'4" tall, was 14 years old, wore pink garments, had pale pink hair with 2 pigtails (each one at the sides of her head), wore a necklace with 3 red spheres, 3 belts that covered her whole torso, tight black shorts under her pink clothes, pink shoes that had bells on top of them, and for some reason had 2 long red bangles with big spheres in the ends that she had on her wrists' rings. The girl looked enthusiastic by her look on her face as she carried some documents in her right hand.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time – Gaiety Company

"Hey, Welch!" the girl called cheerfully as she waved the documents. "Here are the patents you requested!"

Everyone in the room turned to her, Welch smiling at her. "Oh, it's you! Yep, those are the patents I need to register the information about the items you created."

The girl folded her arms and tilted her head at the sides. "Well, everyone did a good job at the workshop, not just me."

The group watched as the girl, ignoring them, walked up to the desk where she put the patents on it. She giggled a bit at Welch. "It's too bad our Compact Communicator doesn't work for now."

"See? I told you it was a good idea to drop by there and request the patents," Welch said. "It'd be a lot easier if your Communicator didn't break because of that incident with Puffy."

The girl looked away. "We told her a lot of times not to create more explosive items but she wouldn't listen, one of them exploded when Fayt walked nearby when he was about to call you with it before it got caught in the explosion. Sometimes I think she's with us for the money and nothing else."

"I can tell that much," Welch said. "Now be good and let's create more items, shall we?"

The girl pouted a bit at her. "Geez, I'm already a grown-up. You don't need to talk to me like that."

"Fine, fine, I get it," Welch joked. "It's just a little bit teasing, you know."

"Yeah, but you know me well enough," the girl said. "Oh well, I just wanted to deliver these patents for you. I need to go back and see if we can refine our weapons to make them even stronger." She turned around, finding the 10 characters looking at her. "And...it seems you're busy..."

"Oh yeah," Welch said. "They're all here to sign up as inventors."

"You tricked us to become inventors," Wolf pointed out.

"And they're funny, you know?" Welch asked with a nervous chuckle.

The girl looked at the 10 characters. Suddenly, she rubbed her chin when she looked at Samus, Sonic, Tails, Chip, and C. Falcon. "Hmm...weird..." She stopped rubbing her chin.

"Is something wrong, little girl?" C. Falcon asked.

"..." The girl shook her head. "Nah, it's nothing." She looked more at them. "I just grew curious about you all and..."

Fox noticed that the girl's eyes focused on his. The young girl then began to slowly look at the vulpine from feet to head until their eyes met together. Crossing his arms, Fox looked at her. "What are you doing?"

"...Oh!" the girl got startled before she played with her fingers. "I-I'm sorry, mister, but sometimes my eyes like to disobey me and look at people a little bit too much of the necessary..."

Fox raised an eyebrow.

The girl folded her arms and looked away. "W-well, sorry for taking your time away for a bit but I must go..." She looked at them with a happy expression. "See ya!" she said before she began to walk around the group to reach the exit where she left by closing the door behind her.

"What was all that about?" Sonic asked.

Welch blinked a bit. "That girl is sure an enthusiastic one, isn't she? I'm surprised she's a very talented inventor at the crafting field." She coughed a bit to clear her throat. "Anyway, since you guys are inventors, I guess I can provide you information about the other inventors here. The girl you just met here was Peppita Rossetti."

"Peppita?" Chip repeated.

"That's her name," Welch said. "Peppita is part of the crew of the workshop across the street from here. I know little about her but I guess you don't want to know that much about her, right?"

"Exactly," Wolf said. "We just came here for information, not get acquainted with people."

"Actually, recalling all our previous travels, we're bound to meet new people here," Chris pointed out.

"Anyway, shall I guide you to the workshop?" Welch offered. "Since you're new inventors, maybe I can convince the owner to let you join him and his group."

Roy rubbed his chin. "It could be beneficial so we can gather the information about the Spotugia Temple."

"Spagonia," Tails corrected.

"Y-yeah, that."

Welch looked cheerfully. "Shall I do it for you, then? Please, you should let me do it so you give the professional inventors a good impression. I'm a best friend to the owner as well so you have very good chances of joining up with them. Nowadays, people like to unite more inventors in order to make a huge production of items, and the best results always come up whenever minutes pass."

Workshop

In front of the Craftsman's Guild, across the street, the workshop busily worked through the sunset as the sounds of melted rock being poured into swords, accessories
being put together with pieces, pots with different soups being stirred around echoed in the busy building.

A handful of people were working in 8 different areas. From within, the building looked even bigger than the outside. Around 13 people were moving and walking around the place to get materials they needed to use in order to create a new line of items through using their skills at the slogan of "art of Item Creation" as Welch had told before.

One the inventors turned out to be the same girl that went to the guild before. The girl was Peppita Rossetti, working on a small table with what looked to be a small charm. "Oooooh..." she muttered as she took a closer look at the earring. "The jewel isn't inserted quite right... At this rate, the item's effects won't turn out good and I'll end up making another Tacky Earring..."

Peppita Rossetti is a dancing girl of the nomadic race of Velbaysyans (a race that have great performance in dances, magic, and strength) who wander space, without any permanent home. She has the same genius for dancing that her deceased mother possessed, and has already mastered many different dances at a young age, earning the admirarion of other members of the troupe. When Peppita steps in battles, she can use her bangles' spheres to whack enemies hard, and can also perform magic dances that benefit the group.

"What is it, Peppita?"

[DededeCloneChris]

Peppita blinked a few times before looking up to the young blue-haired teen in front of her. The young teen was 19 years old, stood 5'9" of height, wore a sleeveless white shirt, and wore a rare blue set of armor in his blue pants, legs, and feet. The teen also had a sword hanging from his torso at the side. Looking down at the girl, the teen put his right hand on his hips.

"Are you having trouble?"

"Nah," Peppita said. "It's all fine over here, Fayt."

Fayt Leingod is an ordinary human student born on Earth. Fayt's journey started accidentally after fleeing from a vacational planet from the attack of an alien race. He has eventually traveled a big distance in the space to escape from the persecuting aliens until he was abducted before crash landing in Elicoor II, where his journey back home began. Fayt possesses a special power, as well as having great battling skills for playing virtual reality games to get out of boredom from college work, implying he's somewhat lazy.

The teen named Fayt nodded. "Well, you seemed depressed so I wanted to know why."

"It's because of this earring I'm doing here," Peppita said as she held up a small but unfinished earring. "I'm trying to create an Emerald Earring, but all I've been gettin' are Tacky Earrings, Pitiful Earrings, Embarrassing Earrings, and let's not forget the Humiliating Earrings," she said depressed. "I dunno what's wrong with me..."

"Now, cheer up," Fayt told her. "If you let your emotions drag you down while working, you're going to keep getting results you don't want to see, right?"

"I guess..." Peppita said as she rested her chin on the table.

"Also, why don't you change items to try to refine the Boost of Prowess we have?"

Peppita pushed her chin up to grab from the floor 2 red boots that she put on the table she was working. "You mean these boots, the boots that can raise strength and defense by 10 percent each? Well, it'd be very convenient to refine it so it turns to 30 percent...but it's so hard, and not to mention it takes a lot of money away from our hands."

"Don't worry about that," Fayt said. "We have plenty of money to pay everyone and the materials we get here. You don't want to let him get away by destroying all the universe, right?"

Peppita remembered that Fayt had stopped going after a villain they needed to stop as soon as possible to try and get prepared for the worst by dedicating all their time to refine and create items, where weapons would commonly come out. The group of 10 agreed to get prepared before fighting what would be the fate of the whole universe.

Who would have thought Peppita would get involved in a mission so big?

"...Yeah," Peppita said as she smiled a bit. "We won't let that guy get away with it, are we?"

Fayt chuckled. "No, we won't let him get away with it that easily."

"Okie-dokie," Peppita said cheerfully. "I want to finish him off before I get back to do my debut at the stage, you know." She began to examine the boots with a magnifier. "After all, I'm the Fairy of Illusions, and YOU promised to be there with Sophia, Fayt."

The reason why Peppita says this is because she met Fayt and her friend Sophia at the vacational resort planet (called Hyda IV) in the hotel where Fayt and his family were in. Fayt and Sophia met Peppita by accident after getting lost in the big hotel by going to the Rossetti Troupe's room (the troupe that Peppita works with). Upon meeting them, Peppita was happy to see "fans" already coming to see her. For her dismay, Fayt told her the truth, and after some misunderstandings (one of them addressing Fayt as a thief), the 3 became friends. Just before her debut on the stage, the alien invasion began to attack the planet, prompting Peppita to drop out the debut by escaping, eventually winding up helping Fayt.

Fayt took out a ticket that Peppita had given him for a free pass to see the Rosetti Troupe. He knew the girl would get upset at him if he forgot to see her debut which she was looking forward to do.

"Yeah, I remember," Fayt said as he kept the ticket in his pocket. "I'll be there for your debut on the stage."

Peppita giggled happily. "Oh, thank you so much, Fayt! I'd really like you and Sophia to go there as some sort of honeymoon!"

"W-wait, what?"

"Just kidding, don't worry," Peppita joked as she kept examining the boots, making Fayt sigh. "...I know you like Maria better, though..."

"H-hey, what makes you think that?" Fayt asked, reddening a bit.

"I'm just kidding, Fayt. Geez, you take jokes very seriously," Peppita said without looking at him.

The teen frowned as he rolled his eyes. Looking to his right, he looked down upon a young kid that stood around 3'1" feet. The kid wore a brown pointy helmet with some glass glaring eyes (the left one being broken), brown trousers (with their right hanger sometimes slipping off from the kid's right shoulder), pale blue shirt underneath, some brown shorts, and pale brown shoes. The kid looked energetic as he looked up to the tall teen with crossed arms.

"Hey, check this out," the kid began as he showed Fayt a helmet with some Drills over its top. "I've made myself a Drill Helm."

Fayt frowned. "Roger, I didn't want you to make a Drill Helm. I wanted you to refine our best armors."

Roger S. Huxley is a young boy who lives in the Lost City of Surferio (located to the west in the Sanmite Republic). This major problem child travels around as a part of a so-called Real Man Contest that he always makes up with his friends against other kids. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on this one, as he is always buying trouble with his rude words. Roger, despite being small, fights using axes or helmets that give him different costumes.


The small kid (Roger) looked bored. "What? Why do we have to refine our armors?"

"We need to have a good defense," Fayt explained. "You and Cliff can refine weapons and armors, right?"

Roger thought for a moment. "Well..."

"Besides, the enemies seem to inflict a lot of damage on us, especially you, right?"

Roger crossed his arms. "Ha, what are you thinking, Fayt? Even if I'm small I'm no weakling."

"I didn't say you were a weakling," Fayt pointed out. "I just need you to refine our weapons in order to receive less damage from enemies."

Peppita stopped working and pointed down at Roger. "I'm refining these Boots of Prowess so they make our armor stronger, you know!"

Roger folded his arms behind his helmet. "Heh, if you want Roger to work so badly, then that'll be something a real man could do."

"Roger..." Fayt frowned.

"...Ugh, okay, okay," Roger said as he lifted up his hands and frowned a bit. "I'm getting' back to my job now, happy?"

"I don't want to be the only one happy here," Fayt said. "I want everyone to feel relieved for creating and refining items. If you want to be feared by all to be a real man, Roger, you should always work hard."

Roger thought for a moment. "Hmm...true... Alright, then." Roger wiped his nose with a finger. "I'll show the world not to mess with me."

"That's the spirit," Fayt said.

Something came up with Peppita. "Oh, Fayt, er, about the patents I went to deliver with Welch..."

"Yeah, what about them?"

"W-well..." Peppita looked away. "When I got there, there were people with her."

"So? It's not so odd to find other people there. Why are you looking so worried, anyway?"

"It's because the people I saw...looked pretty different than anyone here..."

"Pfft," Roger began as he rolled his eyes. "Everyone in ALL those planets you guys come from are different. I don't get that surprised."

Fayt nodded. "Besides, how did those people look like?"

Peppita put a finger on her lips as she looked up to recall. "Well, last time I saw them, they were a walking robot, a muscular guy that looked sort of a pedo, a swordsman that looked that came from royalty, an angel who wore briefs in public, this hedgehog guy, the 2-tailed fox, the flying guy that looked that came out from a cartoon, this kid who wore this hat with small wings on the sides, this guy that looked like a Lycanthrope, and...this other fox person."

"...Wow," Fayt said. "If you think about it, a group like that would be out of place to see together..."

"And cool," Roger commented. "You said there was a walking robot with them?"

"That's pretty much it," Peppita said as she looked at them. "They looked friendly, though."

Fayt was thinking about something. "(A group like that wouldn't belong to this planet. If they were seen in here, they would be ignoring the UP3 that the Pangalactic Federation created... No advanced technology is allowed to be used in underdeveloped planets so it doesn't disrupt the evolution of them...)"

"What do you think, buddy?" Roger asked.

"My guess is that we should be careful," Fayt said. "If they came here from another advanced planet, they should know they can't take technology here...then again, almost all the planet here began to see technology because of the events..."

Roger folded his arms. "So, we end up doing no action. Kind of boring if you ask me."

"No, it's not that," Fayt said. "Because I came here, and the Vendeeni made an invasion here, it should be pretty obvious for the people of Elicoor II that there's technology out there."

The Vendeeni is the race of aliens that attacked Hyda IV (the planet where Fayt and his family were taking a vacation). This race hasn't joined the Pangalactic Federation due to their harsh attitude. However, the Vendeeni should be feared as they possess more advanced technology than other planets in the federation.

"Yep," Peppita said.

"So then, aren't you going to see them with your own eyes?" Roger asked. "They could be, you know, shady people who're trying to take advantage of the commotion of the enemies we're facing."

"Maybe..." Fayt said. "We don't know if we have the chance to meet them in person, though. If we do meet them in person, then we should be prepared fo-"

At that moment, the door's opening sound interrupted their conversation as the 3 turned to the door to see a happy Welch walking inside, just behind the counter of the workshop. "Hey there!" Welch said with a giggle. "How's product development going?"

"Welch?" Fayt said confused. "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy across the street."

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah, no," Welch admitted.

"Then why are yah here?" Roger asked. "Ooh, I get it. You were secretly hired by other competitors to spy on us."

"Hey, I'll never do such a thing in my life to you," Welch said. "Anyway, that's not the reason why I'm here. I came here because I wanted to see Fayt myself to tell him something very important."

"What's that about?" Fayt asked.

"You see, I have some people here who wish to use the workshop as well, and considering the fact you own this place and the fact this is the only workshop of Peterny, I was wondering if you could let them work here."

"Work for us?" Fayt asked.

"Maybe? I don't know if they want to join your group, Fayt," Welch said. "However, I think you should let join you because they really have the eyes to be professionals inventors."

"Isn't that the same thing you tell almost to everybody?" Peppita asked. "I saw you saying that the other day I dropped b-"

Welch coughed a bit as she waved her handy stick. "Can you do that, Fayt? If you let them join you, you'll have more possibilities to create very nice products."

Fayt thought for a moment as he looked around the workshop. The inventors that he had hired for a long time ago were working hard on the different fields of Item Creation. Since Fayt's group wanted to be prepared for incoming battles, surely having more inventors would come in handy.

"I guess..." Fayt said as Roger and Peppita looked at him. "Okay, I'll accept them. But first, I need to see them in person."

Welch nodded and turned around to the exit. "Hey, you guys, come in here, please! He said it's fine as long as he sees you!"

Some seconds passed before the people that came with Welch (the Smashers) entered inside, looking around the workshop behind the counter. However, Fayt, Roger, and Peppita blinked surprised to see the rather odd group of people before them. The Smashers were busily examining the big workshop.

Peppita wanted to point at them and yell, "They're the guys, Fayt!" but decided not to.

Looking back and forth between the 2 groups, Welch giggled and tilted her head a bit. "Well then, I'll leave you 10 to do whatever you please to do here so you create items, okay? I need to go back to my spot and file in some patents. Fayt, I wish you accept them in!" she said cheerfully before walking out towards the other side of the street where she entered the building.

Fayt's group and the Smashers then suddenly stared at each other for a rather long period of time. The blue-haired teen couldn't find the proper words to talk and break the silence as he examined each one of them, Roger and Peppita doing the same action.

The World Traveler then remembered. "(...Right, now I remember who the protagonists are here...)" he thought. Making up his mind, the dragoon wanted to break the silence by saying, "A-"

"Are you Fayt?" Roy suddenly asked, Chris frowning in disappointment,

Fayt looked at him. "Well, yeah, I am..."

Roger crossed his arms, walked towards the counter, and jumped on a chair so he could be seen behind the counter. "So, you guys are here to be inventors, huh?"

"That's...quite right, I guess," Pit said.

Roger narrowed his eyes at them. "You look quite odd for my tastes..."

Fayt gasped mentally before he ran to the counter. "S-sorry if Roger here did something to bother you," he apologized, receiving a glare from Roger. "But, may I ask who are you and what are you doing in this planet?"

"Wait, what?" C. Falcon asked.

"(A-ha, jumping straight to the point, Fayt, I like that,)" Roger thought with an amused look.

"It's...obvious you weren't born here, right?" Fayt asked. "I mean, look at that robot you have there."

Samus grunted a bit to the point it didn't was hear. "I'm not a robot but a bounty hunter in a suit."

Fayt raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Samus nodded as she clicked some buttons on her arm cannon, the helmet she wore opening to reveal her face. Fayt stared at her for a few seconds before Samus's helmet came back on.

"Oh, I see now," Fayt said. "But really, you shouldn't be living here because of the fact you have advanced technology in you, which means you surely know about the UP3 law, right?"

"The UP3 law? What's that?" Chip asked, receiving some odd looks from the 3 characters.

Suddenly, Fox raised a finger. "You mean the Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact or UP3 for short, right?"

"Yeah," Fayt said. "What do you know about it?"

Fox crossed his arms. "What I know about that is that is a treaty aimed at protecting planets with civilizations that aren't yet fully developed. The federation laws strictly prohibit contact with planets and the reason for this is because contact with higher civilizations often greatly influences the path of history of underdeveloped worlds," he explained before grinning. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"...Of course," Fayt said as the others looked somewhat surprised at the vulpine. "It's almost as the law exactly says. However, what are you doing here if you know about the UP3?"

"We're here because we're chasing a group that hid in this planet," Fox explained. "I know we're violating the law, but that group is very dangerous to many different planets. They threaten to disrupt peace in the universe by conquering them with their technology."

"Is that so?" Fayt asked. "But why do you have such a diverse group of people? Are you working for the Pangalactic Federation?"

"Sort of," Fox said. "You could say we're secret agents."

Fayt rubbed his chin as he looked at the group. "Last time I checked there weren't any races that look like most of you... I'm saying that because of the 2-tailed fox, the hedgehog, the fairy guy...and you," he said as he looked at Fox. "Are you...a Foxtail?"

The Foxtail is a sentient race descended from foxes with multiple large tails extending from their posteriors that have the strange characteristic of growing one new tail each century. Foxtails are born with a powerful magic ability that allows them to take any form at will. Strangely enough, they cannot change their tails, which remain as a dead giveaway to an alert observer.

"I'm a completely different kind than a Foxtail," Fox said as the others looked utterly confused at his explanations. "If you think you haven't heard or seen about the others we have with us is because they rather keep themselves in the shadows so they can have privacy in their planets."

The blue-haired teen tilted his head a bit. "I see...I think I understand your intentions to be here."

Fox nodded. "And if you're asking yourself why we became inventors was because we wanted to get information from the townspeople if they saw the suspicious group we're looking for. We lost track, but we believe they came to this planet."

"...Wow," Roger commented. "I didn't know you guys were like that."

Deciding to make their statement believable, Tails decided to speak. "S-so, we wanted to join the Craftsman's Guild so we could get information. We kind of explored this planet for a bit so...there."

"I see," Fayt said. "You're surely thinking you're wasting your time to be coming here."

"Oh, that's not true," Pit said.

"Hmm..." Fayt thought for a moment. "You seem to focused on your task..." He turned around. "What do you guys think?"

Peppita pumped up a fist in the air. "I'd say let them in!!!"

The blue-haired teen and the young boy stared at her odd. The Velbaysyan's yell was way too loud enough to make all the other inventors in the workshop stop working. Shifting her eyes around, Peppita pulled back her fist and giggled cheerfully.

"Sorry about that," Peppita said embarrassed. "I got a little bit too excited so suddenly. Silly me, yelling like that without reason..."

"...You're a little bit of weirdo, alright," Roger said.

Peppite pouted a bit. "H-hey, I'm not a weirdo, Roger!"

Fayt shook his head. "E-er, thanks for sharing your opinion, Peppita..." He looked down at Roger. "How about you, Roger?"

Roger looked back at the group. "Around here, only real men are acceptable to be inventors alongside me. I ask them, are they real men?"

Fayt stared at Roger for a while. "When did you make up that rule?"

Roger looked at him from the corner of his eyes. "5 minutes ago," he admitted before waving a finger. "Are they real men, yes or no, Fayt?"

"What kind of question is that?" Roy asked.

"Please, don't mind what he says," Fayt muttered as Roger crossed his arms proudly. "Roger...likes to be...well...himself a lot of times..."

"I heard that!" Roger yelled as he turned around to Fayt. "This is very serious, Fayt! I wanna know myself if these guys are real men!"

The Smashers looked at Roger's back. Some of them got a little bit surprised as they found a bushy brown tail that wagged slowly at the sides.

"What the...he's got a tail!" C. Falcon said.

Roger turned to them annoyed. "So what if I got a tail? My tail's the softest around, you know."

"Hoo boy, that SURELY is surprising yet not so much to me for no reason," Sonic said bored.

"What was that, lummox?"

"What did you call me?" Sonic asked with a glare.

"He called you a lummox," Chip said with a chuckle. "You're a lummox, then?"

"I heard that, you know," Sonic said bored.

"W-wait, don't start a fight here, Roger," Fayt said as he put a hand on Roger's right shoulder. "You don't want to make them think badly of you."

"Hmph," Roger mumbled before he looked away.

Fayt snapped back from his stare at Roger before turning to them. "So anyway, we'll be glad to let you join us. You can probably find all the information you want to hear from  our inventors."

"About darn time where we got to the point," Wolf said as he crossed his arms. "I want to finish things here as soon as possible."

"I'm surprised," Fayt said as he stared at Wolf. "How did you get the help of a Lycanthrope?"

An extremely rare race of individuals in which ordinary human cells and Beastfolk cells that have been transformed by a special virus coexist in the same body. The human and Beastfolk cells in a Lycanthropes's body will expand or contract when the heart rate exceeds a certain threshold.
As a result, the Lycanthrope's external appearance will appear to undergo a transformation.
Although there are some exceptions, a Lycanthrope's body will become more solid and powerful when the Beastfolk cells are in the expanded state.
There are many different Lycanthrope bloodlines, including those related to wolves, bears, tigers, dogs, rats, boars, and other animals. It should be noted that the legends about Lycanthropes transforming after viewing the full moon, or about the Lycanthrope's invulnerably to all weapons save those made of silver, are nothing more than superstitions.


"Lycan-what now?" Wolf asked.

"They're supposed to be a very secluded race," Peppita explained from her table. "It's not common to find one of them in plain day."

"You didn't know your own race's name, then?" Fayt asked.

Wolf glared at him and frowned. "For your information, I DO know what my race is. I didn't hear clearly, that's all."

The Smashers knew Wolf was lying, but it was better to lie than to say the truth after all the explanations. He didn't want to deal with more problems for the time being and just let things go smoothly as they all wished.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fayt said. "Actually, I should apologize even more after interrogating all of you. It's just that I grew curious and somewhat skeptical about you."

"No worries there," Chip said. "We're friendly."

Fayt studied Chip for a bit. The blue-haired teen wanted to ask what Chip was, but it was surely a race that wanted to be secluded as well as some others Fayt knew. Fayt smiled a bit at them. "Well then, welcome to our team, everybody."

The Smashers have joined Fayt's group...not the other way around.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Embracing Forest Wind

"We should introduce us formally," Fayt offered. "My name is Fayt Leingod, nice to meet you."

Roger put his hands on his hips. "The name's Roger S. Huxley, aspiring man."

Peppita pumped her fist again to the air. "And my name is Peppita Rossetti, acrobat, and the Fairy of Illusions from the famous Rossetti's Troupe."

Fayt and Roger looked at her. "Is it okay for you to say your whole occupation?" Fayt asked.

"I wanna attract people to my debut," Peppita said. "If I get chance, I should take it right away. The guys at the troupe will be delighted to hear I'm letting people know about us."

"As usual, you take advantage of every situation," Roger said bored.

"You do it even more than I do," Peppita pointed out.

"A-anyway," Fayt began as he turned to the group. "I'd like to see which fields you'd like to work to make items. It's crucial to organize all inventors in the right area so Item Creation goes well."

The Smashers looked at each other before all of them began to discuss the 8 different areas od work that they didn't want to work, but had to in order to keep themselves out of suspicions. As most of them were talking with Fayt and Roger, Chris decided to talk with Fox once the vulpine was left alone. Fox was leaning against the wall close to the door.

"How did you exactly know all those terms when Fayt asked us?" Chris asked, getting Fox's attention.

The vulpine looked around to make sure nobody was close. "I knew those terms because they were exactly the same as in the fairy tales' book," Fox whispered. "I happened to read a little bit when nobody was looking and I happened to recall those terms... You could say I studied the book somewhat."

"Were you that interested to read the book behind everyone's backs?" Chris asked confused.

Fox smiled a bit at him. "Chris, this book was a very important part of my childhood when my father was around." He looked down and closed his eyes. "Now that I found this by accident, I'm starting to remember the fond memories I spent with my father. He used to real me all the tales from this book so I could sleep." He looked at him ashamed. "That was all he could do after my mother died when she gave me birth..."

Chris looked worried. "Sorry if I..."

"It's okay," Fox said. "I got over her death... Back on topic, my father was kind of clueless of how to raise children that he began to read some guides." He chuckled. "I'm telling you, he even went as far to admit me that. He said it was so panicking to calm down a crying baby on his arms. Too bad those were the only times where he acted all panicked before he began to go back to use his normal self."

"I can infer he started to let you see and know what he did when he work for Team Star Fox, right?"

"Very true," Fox said. "I admired him a lot during my childhood. I was always excited to hear any stories of his missions every time he returned home. To me, my father was...the coolest."

Chris smiled a bit at him. "It's nice to hear what you think about your father."

"That reminds me, what about your father?" Fox asked. "Is he a good guy?"

"Oh, he's very nice," Chris said. "I like to hear what he and my mom do during their business travels around the continent. I admire my father a little bit that..." The World Traveler stopped talking. "...Oh no, I forgot..."

"What did you forget?"

Chris looked worried at him again. "I forgot they were going to come to my house. I haven't returned yet ever since the incident during my birthday, do you remember? I got sidetracked and...the time in my world surely stopped..." He looked down. "I should go back to see them again... It's been a long time after I saw them in person..."

Fox pushed himself back from the wall and put a hand on Chris's right shoulder. "If you ask me, you should go back and see them. Trust me, you still have your parents around, and you must enjoy all the time you have with them."

"W-why are you being so personal in this?"

"I'm doing this because you have the chance...not like me," Fox said with a frown. "...If I ever saw my father again...I'd like to spend the time with him... I...just don't know if he's even alive..." He looked serious at him. "I know that you've seen those cutscenes in the games where I can see him, right?"

That was a very bizarre fact.

"Y-yes..." Chris said.

"What do you think, Chris?" Fox asked as he removed his hand from Chris's shoulder. "Do you think my father is alive, or that my mind is playing tricks with me?"

"I..." Chris thought for a moment. "...I just don't know..."

"...Thanks, though," Fox said. "I guess it helps to hear an opinion for someone else who saw him..."

"I could be hallucinating as you do..."

"Just maybe..." Fox said before sighing. "Thanks, Chris, really, thanks..."

Unaware, the 2 didn't see that Wolf, some feet away from them, heard their conversation as the others were busily getting explanations about the 8 areas of Item Creation from Fayt and Roger. The lupine was looking away as he lowered his head down. "(...James...)" Wolf thought with a frown.

The dragoon stared at the vulpine looking down at the floor. The look on Fox's face clearly gave the hint that he was depressed. Chris thought about something to cheer the leader of Star Fox...

However, once both turned around, they found a smiling Peppita with folded arms behind her back, making them take a step back in surprise.

"W-what the..." Fox looked down at her. "W-were you standing there all the time?"

Peppita looked at him, still smiling cheerfully. "Huh, what do you mean?" she asked. "I just got here a second ago. I just wanted to meet you in person... Hmm..." She put a finger on her lips. "What was your name again?"

"...Fox."

Peppita chuckled. "What an original name," she said, looking happy. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Fox. I'm always happy to meet new people like you."

"I...see..." Fox said as he pulled his right foot back. "Well...I'm glad to meet you as well...Peppita?"

Peppita gasped as she covered her mouth with her hands. "Wow, you didn't forget my name, then? I'm so happy that you didn't!" she said giggling. "Most people forget my name because it sounds weird, but personally, I really like my name so much."

"...Why would I forget someone's name in a minute?" Fox asked as he crossed his arms. "I wouldn't forget about your name since we just met."

Peppita blushed a bit. "T-that's so nice of you," she said. "Well then, shall I assign you to your area? The others seem to be understanding all the details about it." She tilted her head. "You looked so smart when you told Fayt about the UP3. I take you know what Item Creation is?"

"Pretty much?"

"Good!" Peppita clapped her hands together as the others began to dismiss by walking around the counter to the left, Roger jumping off from his chair to show them the workshop. "Well, let's see what Fayt has for you in hands. Fayt's pretty much a hard worker. He should know where to put you."

Fox's eyes widened a bit as Peppita grabbed his right gloved hand with both of her hands.

"Shall we?" Peppita asked with a giggle.

"O-okay," Fox said unsure as the girl pulled him to the counter, Chris watching the event without words.

The dragoon shifted his eyes before looking at no one in particular. "She just ignored me the whole time... Do I have camouflague skills or something?" he asked confused.

Wolf was the only one who was thinking about what he could do in the workshop as Fayt waited for him to decide. The lupine wasn't surely wanting to do some items, but he had to in order to do something productive or else others would see him as a lazy (bastard). The lupine then looked at his left where Peppita pulled Fox to the counter.

"Hey, Fayt," Peppita began as Fox looked at him. "Is there an area available for Fox here?"

Fayt rubbed his chin. "Well...we have 2 areas still available but I'm not sure if he knows how to work on either of those."

Wolf turned to him. "What are those 2 areas?"

Fayt looked at him. "The areas that are available are dotted down this form. We don't have people in synthesis because that's a risky process to do. We already have a handful of people on each area, but the last 2 have vacant spots."

The lupine watched as Fayt showed him a form. Wolf took the form to see what the areas were. According to the form, the areas with the people assigned were...

Smithery - C. Falcon, Roy, Boyd
Engineering - Tails, Sonic, Samus
Alchemy - Misty, Pit, Maxwell
Crafting - Peppita, Roger, Chilico
Writing - Chris, Mishell, Fayt

Wolf looked at the next 2 areas that had vacant spots. After further reading, a smirk appeared on his face as he saw the names Puffy and Chip "McChip" together. "I guess I'll go for Compounding."

Fayt nodded. "Good, we need people to create benefitial items in that field. Hope you do a good work."

Wolf smirked at Fox before the lupine, chuckling, put down the form and walked around the counter to go to his area. The vulpine didn't know the reason behind the smirk before he looked at the form that Wolf had placed down on the desk.

A sudden mad look took over Fox's face once he read the form a bit, not minding the names Sophia and Mayu dotted down besides the last area of Item Creation.

Fayt raised an eyebrow as Peppita stared confused at the mad Fox. The teen looked down at the form and blinked. "...What, you don't know how to do this?"

Fox looked at him, mad look still intact. "Is this some kind of a joke?"

"I don't see what the joke is," Peppita admitted. "What, can't you do this right or what?"

"C'mon," Fayt said as he put his right hand on his hip. "The Cooking area is not that bad as it sounds."

Fox's mad look turned into a glare as he looked at Wofl from the other side of the workshop. Fox could tell Wolf was smirking, even if he wasn't even looking at the vulpine. "(Wolf, you bastard... You knew very well I suck at cooking so you wanted to see me fail...)"

Peppita chuckled, making Fox's glare disappear as he looked down at her. "C'mon, I'll take to your area. You'll have to wait for Sophia and Mayu to come back because they both went shopping to buy products. They're gonna come back shortly, so wait until they get here. They know a lot way more about cooking here."

Sighing, Fox frowned. "Fine, please show me the cooking area so you see how bad I suck at it..."

"It's not that bad," Peppita said. "You're probably going to end up amazing yourself!" she said as she pulled Fox around the counter.

"Yeah, I'll be amazed to be the first one in here to kill everyone through food poisoning," Fox said as he rolled his eyes.

"Pfft, you won't kill anyone like that unless you do add poison in the food," Peppita said chuckling. "You're funny, you knew that? You're gonna love this place, Fox."

"I wish..." Fox muttered.

As Fayt told Chris to come with him to the writing area, the vulpine thought that the Star Ocean universe wouldn't be so bad after showing off what he knew thanks to his book.

However, much for Fox's dismay, he had to make stew for his first task in the new world, Peppita cordially telling him the process as she always seemed to be blushing whenever she looked up at Fox's bored expression.

Suddenly, the idea of ripping Wolf's head didn't sound that bad for Fox...

Preview of the next chapter

Fox's eyes looked down to his right where he found the Velbaysyan looking at the stew in front of him. "...Didn't you say you were going to create an earring?"

"Hey, I'm trying to give you a hand here," Peppita said. "I'm being a good girl so you get a good impression of me."

"For what? You pretty much are very helpful to an extent."

Peppita blushed. "T-that's so nice of you, Fox. Really, thanks a lot for saying such a nice thing to me..."

...

"Item Creation For Dummies And Anthros Alike. I'd replace dummies for maggots. It sounds very fitting if you ask me,"  a voice commented.

"Nobody asked you, anyway," Peppita said annoyed.

"Little maggot girl..." the voice muttered.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Trading Town of Peterny
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Peppita, Roger

------------------------------------

A human girl born on Earth. Unlike most young girls of the present age, she excels in various household tasks such as cleaning and sweing. Sophie Esteed is Fayt's childhood friend, having been living very close to each other's home and the fact that their parents work at the same laboratory. Sophia is a nice girl that possess great symbological magic, making her a spell caster during battles.

[DededeCloneChris]

Chapter 155: Item Creation For Dummies And Anthros Alike

Trading Town of Peterny
Workshop

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Brace Forest Wind

In the busy workshop, inventors busily moved around to get materials that they all needed in order to create items through the 8 different areas of the building. The areas of Item Creation were Synthesis, Smithery, Alchemy, Engineering, Compounding, Writing, Crafting, and Cooking.

The area of Synthesis, located to the far left end of the workshop, had magic spheres with books of Symbology to fuse items together in order to get a stronger item. There was a long table against the wall where many different scrolls were located.

Symbology is a technology discovered in 346 SD on the planet Roak whereby certain phenomena can be induced through the combination of the three aspects of invocation, marking, and mental power near an inscription of a special type of design called a symbol. This technology was known as heraldry in the past. Nowadays, many people through the whole galaxy know how to use this kind of magic in order to fight harsh battles. Symbology may as well be the type of magic in Star Ocean.

Next to the Synthesis area, the Compounding area was close to it. Several colored liquids within multiples potions and a wide variety of pills were shown over different tables in front of the window. There were also several guide books about all different kinds of compounding items that Wolf decided to look, ignoring the girl that was busily mixing potions together.

"(Who the hell is this girl?)" Wolf thought as he looked down at the girl.

The girl in question looked the normal kind of happy-looking girl for the fact she wore a white dress with some small garments, her long orange hair reaching half of her back. However, the lupine knew well that this girl wasn't even close to be a happy girl since the face of the girl looked...rather evil with her glaring red eyes staring at the potions in front of her.

The girl was better know as Puffy.

Puffy is a stiff-haired girl who follows Fayt and his companions around, saying, "No more, five years before! No more, seven years before!" as if it were some sort of key phrase, for no apparent reason. This odd phrase may make perfect sense to those who understand its context, but it means nothing at all to Fayt. It's almost as if a desire for revenge is filling her with rage and makes her pick fights. She likes to challenge Star Ocean players a lot.

"Grrr," Puffy grunted aloud. "I can't decide the ingredients for my next explosive potion..."

Judging by the charred looks of the wooden table, Wolf knew well that Puffy surely had been creating many explosives. The lupine wondered how could the table survive the accidental treatments.

Instantly, Wolf noticed that Puffy looked up at him from the corner of her eyes. "Are you looking at me, mutt?"

Wolf grunted and looked away.

"Hey, are you looking at me?" Puffy asked. "I'm asking you a question. Were you looking at me?"

The lupine got annoyed enough to say, "F(beep) off..."

Puffy rolled her eyes annoyed, ignoring from behind the curious Chip that rubbed his chin to make the best chocolate candy in the universe as he was seen carrying a big book with ingredients and recipes.

"I need cacao here..." Chip muttered. "Hmm, cacao..."

Right besides the Compounding area, there was the Alchemy area which had another different set of books over some sophisticated-looking tables. A confused Pit flipped through pages from a basic book of alchemy as 2 other adults were creating high-advanced alchemy through different ores and scrolls.

Pit looked at the pale-looking woman that wore a dark red coat that covered most of her body except her face. "So..." Pit trailed off, trying to set his mind away from the book of alchemy. "You told me your name was Misty Lear, right?"

The woman, her eyes looking at Pit that were once looking a book, chuckled at him. "Indeed it is," Misty Lear said. "Yours was Pit, right?"

"Yes," Pit said. "You know, I wanted to ask how to do this part of the book to you." Pit looked at the man behind him. The gray-haired man wore a long red robe with blue clothes underneath it. The man, named Mackwell, was rubbing his chin as he paced around  his own spot, looking down at a book he held on his right hand. "He's sort of focused on what he's doing."

"Oh, I see," Misty Lear said. "Then I shall be of help for you, Master Pit."

"...Master Pit?" Pit repeated confused at the addressing name, Misty Lear chuckling a bit as his naivete. Maybe Misty Lear was attracted to him?

Right next to the Alchemy area, there was the Writing area. Unlike the previous areas, this had many books that were piled up together in big stacks of encyclopedias that almost touched the ceiling above on the table (and even the towers of books on the floor). The table was long enough for 3 different people to sit on the chairs of the table to work in their tasks.

"So..." Chris began as he stared down at a book with empty pages. "What are the procedures to create elemental books that can change a weapon's element?"

Sitting next to his right was Fayt who was writing different sentences on another book with empty pages. Fayt didn't need to look at him to speak. "You need to use the guide besides you to mix magic chants together," he explained. "The Symbology applied on each book allows them to become useful synthesis. You need to watch out for the words you write on them, though. A single misspelling could make the books worthless."

"That's quite right," said the pale blond-haired kid next to Fayt that wore big glasses and a small brown vest with a white shirt underneath. The kid was named Mishell. Mishell seemed very busy as his eyes were being dragged around by the ink pen he used to write incantations on the book's pages. "It's one of the most basic rules of the Writing field in Item Creation."

"So there you go," Fayt said. "It should be easy for you to get the meaning, right?"

"I guess..." Chris said before he grabbed an ink pen, looking at the guide book that he had besides the book with blank pages. "Fire that scorches material..." he read as he dictated the words on the book carefully.

Next to the Writing area was the Compounding area. A skeptical Roger didn't bother to look at the wide arrangement of accessories in front of him while Chilico, a small blue-haired fairy that wore a green robe bigger than her, frantically flew to each side of the table to use the right materials to create the items she desired to create.

"Busy, busy, busy!" Chilico said in a panic while she flew around behind the bored Roger. "I'm busy, busy, busy, you know!"

Roger, his eyes previously looking somewhere else, looked at her. "Would you shut up for a sec?"

"Nope," Chilico said as she carried some strings to make earrings. "I must work hard enough to make a castle made up of money!"

"I thought Fayt already gave you around 100,000 Fol to make up your castle," Roger said.

Fol is the universal money currency of Star Ocean.

"Yeah, but I wanna make it even bigger than before," Chilico said. "That's why I need to be very busy!"

Roger sighed. "How are you going to make a castle out of money when the money is the bricks, anyway?" He rolled his eyes. "Wait, what am I even asking you all this? I need to direct my attention to...her..."

Next to the Compounding area was the Engineering area. Old-looking machines, cables, wires, and instruction manuals were scattered around the floor. Unlike the other areas, there were no tables to leave papers. This particular areas was currently occupied by an excited Tails, a thinking Samus, and a bored Sonic.

"Remind me why you wanted to be here," Samus said as she looked down at Sonic leaning against the wall with crossed arms while Tails focused his attention on an old guide to make some devices that could have all different sorts of outcomes that excited him greatly.

"Hey, this is the closest area of expertise I could be," Sonic said. "4 minutes passed, and then I'm all bored." Sonic opened his mouth wide to let out a yawn. "When are we gonna jump into the action, anyway?"

"Well, good question," Samus said as she looked at the excited Tails. "I'll have to remind everyone here about what we came to do."

"Please do it soon," Sonic said worried. "Once Tails gets some files to make new machines he won't stop until he makes 'em."

"Wow, just look at the blueprints of this phase gun!" Tails said as he laughed a bit. "This complicated procedure is so interesting and challenging to do!"

Sonic looked back at Samus. "See what I mean?"

The bounty hunter nodded before the hedgehog sighed with a frown. Sonic wished to fight and look for the temple before night could come due to the fact they arrived during the sunset.

Close to the Engineering area was the Smithery area. Hard anvils with hammers, pincers, and swords on top of them were spread across the floor while more lightweight weapons were laying down on the rock table against the wall where a chimney with fire heated some rocks inside the furnace. Roy, curiously, watched as a tall man that was sitting down on a chair banged a steel hammer against the hot edge of a sword on an anvil. The man, named Boyd, only wore some sandals with a grey kilt.

"I've forgotten how swords are made," Roy said as the man wiped some sweat from his forehead. "It's actually pretty interesting to see how they're made with my own eyes."

Boyd stopped working to look up at Roy before the man stood up, now looking down at the suddenly nervous swordsman. "You seem to have good eyes, kid, I like that."

"R-really?" Roy asked before scratching his head. "I-I have to admit I want to do it myself to see if I can do it... Would you teach me?"

"Why not?" Boyd asked with a grin before tapping Roy's right shoulder hard. "I wouldn't mind to teach you the ways of smithing."

Roy smiled nervously at him. "W-well, can I start now? I'm pretty excited to make my own weapon."

"As long as you follow my rules, you'll be just fine," Boyd said chuckling. "I can't say much for your friend over there, though..."

Roy looked back to the furnace where C. Falcon took out the hilt of a red flashing sword. The hilt suddenly became red, instantly burning the captain's palms as he pulled back his hand from the smoke that came when he grabbed the hilt, letting the sword fall down on the ground. as he waved his right hand in pain.

Roy blinked at this. "He's...going to be fine, I guess..."

"I see..." Boyd said.

And finally, next to the smithery area, there were 2 lone figures that stood in front of a long stove with several pots with different kinds of soups over it. Another set of tables with many different types of fruits, vegetables, salts, and different kinds of condiments were standing idly by each side of the old-looking oven against the east wall of the workshop.

The vulpine stared at the brewing liquid inside the hot pot in front of him as the young dancer chuckled.

"Well, here ya go. We're currently making stew," Peppita said as she looked at the pot. "You sure you can do this?"

"This is not going to end up blowing up or something, right?" Fox asked bored.

"Silly, you're very funny when you put it that way," Peppita said with a giggle. "Why are you acting so down about cooking, anyway?"

"Trust me, I really suck at cooking," Fox said.

"There's always room for improvement."

"Improvement to get even worse?"

"What's up with you?" Peppita said. "You just need to make Spicy Stew. It's not that hard to do."

The vulpine remembered the incident with the Superspicy Curry from a long time ago. The thought made him shrug. "Spicy food..." Fox muttered.

"It's good stuff," Peppita said. "Okay, I'm gonna leave you here to do your thing. You're stuck in this area because we don't have enough space for others to work unless someone trades with you."

Suddenly, a grin formed on Fox as he looked at the others. "Hey, you guys, would you mind changing places wit-"

"NO!" his group yelled in unison.

Fox looked up with a frown as Peppita chuckled heartily. "Alrighty, I'll leave you here by yourself!" she said before walking away. "Wait until Sophia and Mayu come back from the shop! For now, I need to make myself that Emerald Earring."

The vulpine looked to the other side of the workshop where Wolf flashed a grin at him. Fox grunted annoyed as he looked back at the hot stew with the ladle in the soup. He stared at it for a while before his right hand grabbed it, stirring the soup in a slow circle.

There was something he just remembered: how the heck was he going to make stew if he didn't even make one before? This presented a problem as Fox stared at the food cooking by itself.

Many different thoughts circulated through his mind such as if the food was going to be ready if he let it burn by itself, add something into the soup so it finishes, or toss the soup out because by just staring at it he felt sick; sick of seeing people choking and dying on their chairs just because of something he didn't think would happen. After all, if he had served the practice cake he was going to use for Chris's birthday...

Boy, the image didn't look pretty at all.

Fox, however, wasn't going to give up to some food. He glared at it and shifted his eyes around. Upon looking at the table nearby, his eyes widened instantly once he found a cook book open. Fortunately for him, the pages that were shown had the ingredients, steps, and procedures. He blinked a few times before reaching out for the book, his eyes darting from each side of each page to understand the steps.

Finally, there was something he could do right for once as a relieved expression formed in his face. Now, he could imagine himself feeding his future child and...

"..." Fox suddenly began to smell smoke. The vulpine looked back at the pot where the soup was dangerously moving to the sides. Fortunately, nobody else noticed this, and Fox quickly thought about lowering the fire's temperature. "Oh, there it is..." he muttered with a sigh as he spotted the stove gas's knob in front of him. He decided to turn it counterclockwise to make the fire lower.

Suddenly, fire began to cover half of the pot. Fox's eyes widened before he quickly turned the knob clockwise, the fire instantly disappearing as everyone else minded their own areas of work.

"Who the hell thought that turning the knob counterclockwise to increase the fire would be a good idea?" Fox asked in annoyance by muttering. He watched as the stew began to calm itself by slowly turning immobile. The vulpine looked at the ladle before taking it out. "(Is the stew ready?)" he asked to himself as he looked at the stew. The food should had been already prepared before he came.

Maybe it was left alone by the girls Sophia and Mayu?

Fox stared at the ladle before switching his eyes at the stew. He looked worried. What if the stew got burned?

What if he overlooked a step he didn't read?

What if he didn't add something like spices?

What if the stew was already set to be a failure from the beginning?

Why was Peppita standing to his right?

"Wait, what?" Fox asked to himself.

"Heheheh, hi," greeted Peppita's voice close to him.

Fox's eyes looked down to his right where he found the Velbaysian looking at the stew in front of him. "...Didn't you say you were going to create an earring?"

"Hey, I'm trying to give you a hand here," Peppita said. "I'm being a good girl so you get a good impression of me."

"For what? You pretty much are very helpful to an extent."

Peppita blushed. "T-that's so nice of you, Fox. Really, thanks a lot for saying such a nice thing to me..."

"Actually, you kind of walked off from here," Fox said. "I'm just saying that because you decided to show me this place by yourself."

Peppita blushed a bit and looked away. "W-well, remember you were convincing Fayt about the secret mission you're doing with your group? I thought you were the leader because you look coo-I mean, because you look like an experienced leader to me."

Fox stared at her with an odd look. When he recalled, he did sound like he was commanding the whole situation once the Smashers had entered the workshop. The thought of being the leader didn't sound that bad for him. Fox had the advantage of knowing a lot of terms that he read in his book so why he couldn't be the one leading the group?

"Hello?" Peppita suddenly stopped Fox's thought before he looked back at her. "Is something bothering you? You've been staring at the ceiling for a long while. Is something there? Are there any spiders that are bothering you?"

"What? No, I was just thinking my own business," Fox admitted. "Anyway, shouldn't you be working with the crafting thing?"

Peppita chuckled. "Roger and Chilico are handing things pretty fine over there without me. I can resume the work on my Boots of Prowess tomorrow just to help you out. I'm not good at cooking myself but it's worth the try, right?"

Fox shrugged at the words Peppita told him. If she said she wasn't so good at cooking, would he risk his luck with the food? Speaking of the food, Fox recalled to himself that it seemed to be ready. The vulpine looked at the ladle in his right hand, Peppita focusing on it. "...Should I really take a taste of it?" Fox asked as he stared at the ladle.

"Why are you being so worried?" Peppita asked. "It's just a stew. It's not like it's going to attack us or something."

"Well, not from the outside but from the inside..." Fox trailed off as he lifted up the ladle. "Here goes nothing..."

Peppita tilted her head. "You're looking so worried over nothing dangerous. It'll be just fine, believe me."

For once, the Velbaysian had the voice of reason for Fox. The vulpine was being paranoid over something so little. If he thought again, tasting food wouldn't be that bad. Fox then decided to dive in the ladle to take a spoon of the stew, some meat also coming along.

"Now open wide."

Fox shook his head. "Open wide? Do you think I'm a kid or something?"

Peppita chuckled. "You're acting like one so I figured out you'd be one."

"I'm 30 years old, you know."

Peppita gasped. "W-wow, you look so young for being 30 years old! Has anyone told you that before?"

Fox grinned as he took a sip of soup. Suddenly, he looked confused once he tasted the spoon. He pulled back the ladle and looked confused. The Velbaysian tilted her confused. "...Weird..."

"What?" Peppita asked. "Did it taste like stew?"

Fox didn't respond as he took another sip of the stew. He looked up to the ceiling before he took another sip, then another, then another, then another, multiply previous actions by 3, then another. "...Well..."

"Hey, you're gonna eat the whole pot by yourself? At least leave food for everyone here."

"No, it's not that..." Fox said. "...The stew just..." He looked down at her and shook his head. "...It doesn't have any flavor in it..."

"...No taste?"

"No..."

Peppita looked at the stew. "...Oh man, you just made Tasteless Stew then!"

Fox rolled his eyes. "How can food not have any taste?"

"Trust me, food can lose taste if you add the wrong ingredients in there," Peppita said. "I least I know salt doesn't mix with sugar."

"Who in their right mind mixes salt with sugar, anyway?"

"Hey!" Roger yelled from the Compounding area. "How the heck would I know both flavors would mess up the Golden Curry I was making?"

"Even Cliff knows not to mess up that one!" Peppita yelled back before Roger rolled his eyes. "Please, excuse Roger, Fox. He's very active for his age."

Fox shifted his eyes at the young boy. For a second, it looked like if Roger was keeping an eye on him. "Why is he looking at me with those eyes?"

Peppita turned around to see Roger's narrow eyes looking at them from his area while the busy Chilico flew around and about. Roger seemed a little bit skeptical about the group even if Fayt trusted them. If they knew Roger would say something, they could be in trouble to explain a long complicated set of explanations.

"Roger!" Peppita yelled. "Would you please go back to work?"

The Velbaysian watched as Roger jumped off from his seat and walked all the way to them, his eyes meeting Fox's legs before looking up at him with crossed arms. "Fayt might've been nice to you, but I DO have the brains to see what you're hidin' here, y'know."

Fox crossed his arms. "There's nothing very relevant for you to know, anyway."

"Yeah," Peppita said. "Fox and the others are normal people to me."

Roger looked at her. "You're saying that just because you're interested oh so much with him!"

Fox blinked confused. "Wait, what?"

Peppita flushed and pouted a bit. "R-Roger, that's not true, okay?" She tried her best not to screw her impressions on the vulpine. "B-besides, he's way older to me!"

"Oh, so he's older than you," Roger said amused. "It's common for girls to fall for older guys at any age."

Fox looked at no one in particular.

"Somebody can tell a mile a way you're i-" Roger stopped talking once Peppita lfited up one of her bangles, preparing to whack him with the sphere attached to it. "What? It's not necessary to get so worked up over the guy. He doesn't look like a real man to me as well!"

The vulpine shook his head. "Hey, I know very well I'm a man."

"Prove it, then!" Roger demanded. "My eyes can't deceive me when I look at real men. I'm the one taking Real Man Contests around here, you know!"

"Real Man...Contests?" Fox repeated confused.

Roger put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, the contest me and my guys hold in Surferio to prove this other annoying group of guys who the real man is." He pointed up at Fox. "Can you prove you're a real man, Mr. Foxy?"

Fox glared at him. "So you want me to prove you I'm a "real" man, huh?"

Peppita lowered her bangle and glared at Roger, shaking her head so he would go away.

Roger chuckled. "Of course, you lummox, I'm challenging you to a Real Man Contest, another place, right now!"

The loud demand reached Fayt's ears. The blue-haired teen looked up from his book and looked all the way over the Cooking area where he watched as Roger argued with Fox while Peppita shook her head as many times as she could. Gasping, Fayt pushed the chair away from the table to stand up and walk as fast as possible so it wouldn't like he was running.

Seeing Fayt coming, Fox looked at him with a serious look. "Oh, you're here," Fox said somewhat annoyed. "Can you tell Roger here to leave me alone?"

"Hey, that wasn't part of the deal here!" Roger demanded.

"Roger, what are you doing now?" Fayt asked. "You're not bothering him, right?"

"Of course not!" Roger yelled. "He's chickening out from the Real Man Contest I'm giving him!"

Fayt frowned. "Roger, Fox surely doesn't want to participate in one of those contests. Besides, aren't those contests kind of ridiculous sometimes to the point they're a little bit pointless or life-threatening?"

Roger looked bored. "So what if the Sleep-In-The-Water-For-3-Days Contest was stupid?"

"That's stupid," Fayt, Peppita, and Fox said at the same time.

"Duh..." Roger looked away embarrassed. "...That's not the point here, okay?" Roger said annoyed. "Look, you might've been nice to these guys, but that's that. I'm not so sure if we should let them wander around in this place with us. I mean, they're surely arguing with each other as we speak!" Roger pointed behind Fayt. "Just look at how they're beating each other!"

The trio looked back at the other areas.

In the Compounding area, it looked like Wolf was having a conversation with the shady Puffy.

"So," Wolf began as he poured some dust into a potion. "What kinds of explosives do you make?"

Puffy smirked evilly as she mixed colored liquids in tubes. "Oh, lots of them. You'd get surprise by how many of them are. I'd love to share ideas with someone who likes explosives."

Wolf chuckled. "What do you know, I am interested here."

"Heheheheh," Puffy smiled wickedly. "So, do you want to see my inventions? I wouldn't mind giving you some for free. I'd like to have some appreciation around here. Like for example the Soul Strengthening Device I've created by yours truly."

"You don't know how much interested you just made me," Wolf replied with a satisfied grin as Chip flew behind them, rubbing his palms together after deciding to create a chocolate candy (too bad he didn't know that would be better created in the Cooking area).

In the Alchemy area, they watched as Pit flipped through pages to create Iron as Misty Lear kindly instructed him, Mackwell minding his own business on the right side of the table. "And you must express your desire to create these materials while reciting the sentences written on the book," Misty Lear said. "I am sure you will eventually make it, Master Pit."

"T-thanks," Pit said unsure as he looked at the glittering Iron in front of him. "Why do you keep calling me master? We barely met each other..."

Misty Lear chuckled. "Don't you worry; this is my way to be gentle and cordial to other people. Now, let us continue with you alchemy training, Master Pit."

The angel shrugged at the pale-looking woman as he continued to read the book aloud to the ore in front of them.

In the Writing area, there was Chris being taught how to properly write the complicated set of words by the help of Mishell. The young boy dragged a finger to very complicated words that the World Traveler barely understood. "You have to look carefully at your handwriting," Mishell instructed. "Otherwise you're going to screw up the tome you're writing for."

Chris nodded. "I see... I have to look out for any excessive use of ink applied to each page because the tome would get confused and take my letters for other letters, right?"

Mishell adjusted his glasses as he nodded. "Exactly, I hope that helps you to write well in these books. It's not easy to do this, just to let you know."

"Many thanks, really," Chris said as he returned to write, Mishell doing the same.

It was not worth mentioning the Crafting area where Chilico was always heard saying aloud, "Busy, busy, busy!" all the time as she flew around, carrying different materials to create earrings, amulets, and necklaces from time to time, and from place to place.

In the Engineering, an energetic Tails checked on small devices as he spun levers to lower plates that would press the devices slightly. For Samus, check carefully read the different instruction booklets as she had her own machine that looked exactly the same as Tails's. As for Sonic...

The hedgehog was laying down on the floor, sleeping deeply with folded arms behind his head.

And lastly, in the Smithery area, there was Roy banging a hammer of a sword's red hard edge while his work was being judged by Boyd. "Right," Boyd said as Roy banged his hammer against the red edge of steel. "Apply force equally on every single area so the sword has a good slicing edge. By doing that, the speed in which you swing the sword will also increase."

"Right," Roy said with a serious look, yet smiling a bit as sparks of fire flew out at all directions.

Behind them, C. Falcon waited patiently for the furnace to prepare a chain mail he had taken from the samples on the nearby rock table. The captain grinned as fire turned the chain armor glittering red.

For the dismay of many, he didn't even know what he was doing. C. Falcon wanted to look he was working so Samus would look at his way. Too bad his wish wasn't going to happen.

Fayt, Peppita, and Fox looked down at the bored Roger. "...Yeah," Roger said. "Just wait some 10 minutes and then true chaos will begin..."

Fayt frowned at this. "Roger, just leave Fox alone, okay?"

"Fayt, you're being so nice to them, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah, because they already explained their reasons to be in this planet," Fayt explained. "Isn't that right, Fox?"

Fox nodded. "Right."

Roger grunted and pointed up at Fayt. "Grrrrr, just you wait until Maria comes around, Fayt. Unlike you, she's so going to bring them all to justice, and then I'll see if they're real men...and woman!" he proclaimed as he crossed his arms and walked away to the Crafting area with the busy Chilico.

Peppita shook her head and sighed. "Man, he doesn't give up if what he has in mind, does he?"

"Yeah," Fayt said with a sigh. "At least he's not going to bother you any longer, Fox."

"Pardon to me to be asking this," Fox began, "but who is this Maria person?"

"Maria?" Peppita repeated. "Oh, she's one of our group. Maria isn't here right now because she said she wanted to go to Surferio due west with Mirage."

Fayt moved his right hand. "Maria is a very important person because she's the one who knows a lot about federation matters and other kinds of intergalactic laws more than anyone here. It's been a long time after she and Mirage went to Surferio."

"I see..." Fox said. "Why'd you send her and the Mirage person there?"

"You see..." Fayt looked away. "We're not exactly in an era of peace right now. For now, everything's peaceful in Peterny, but outside it's a big mess."

Peppita grunted a bit. "There are these guys called the Executioners who want to eliminate and kill everyone in the universe. Those bad guys are roaming every single wild lands out of all the towns in this planet because they're seeking us."

"They're looking for you?" Fox asked. "Why?"

"It's...very complicated to explain," Fayt said. "They're looking for us because they know we can stop them. For some reason or another, they barely think of assaulting the towns and cities. I think the reason behind this because they want to find us alive to take us to their leader. Haven't you heard of them? I thought all the galaxy knew about how dangerous the Executioners were."

"We..." Fox looked away. "(Dammit, this didn't exactly happen in the fairy tale at all. I knew I was relying on the book so much...) We just happened to hear about them just now," he said before looking at Fayt. "We didn't hear a lot about the Executioners. My guess is that we were "lucky" not to heard of them as we were doing our own mission."

"That's weird, actually," Fayt said. "I thought the Executioners had appeared all over the galaxy."

Peppita looked down. "Like 30 planets were completely obliterated by them..."

Fox's eyes widened. "Wait, 30 planets were obliterated?"

"Yeah..." Fayt said. "They're a force to be reckoned with. They possess the most advanced technology that easily surpass any known technology."

Fox crossed his arms. "And how do they look like?"

Peppita raised her hands. "They look like robot angels, monsters with black wings and coats, and huge dragons with really weird voices."

"...Wow," Fox commented. "That's a little bit...unbelievable for robotic angels to exist..."

"We know, but they're dangerous," Fayt said. "However, we're strong enough to handle them all by ourselves. It's thanks to my special power that allows all of us to face them head on."

"Special power?" Fox asked. "What kind of special power is that?"

"Well, that power of mine was specifically created b-" Fayt stopped talking once he heard the door opening. "Who's there?" he asked, making Fox and Peppita look at his direction.

From the door, a young teenager girl came carrying a basket with lots of fruits, vegetables, and spices. The brown haired girl wore pink clothes, blue skirt, long black sockets, and red shoes. She looked rather enthusiastic as she stepped inside to put the groceries she had bought on the counter.

Behind her, a green-haired inventor, Mayu, who wore typical housemaid's clothes, came in carrying more groceries with her.

"We're baaaaaaaack," the first girl said, "and I found what we needed to create food."

Fayt smiled a bit as he walked to the counter to greet his friend. "How did it go, Sophia?"

The girl, Sophia, chuckled. "Everything went alright, Fayt. We've found the necessary ingredients to make the appointed food."

"That's right," Mayu said as she walked around the counter. "Now we can continue to make our Super-Spicy Stew. We've been working on it for the entire day. Luckily, we left it alone so it would cook by itself before we could come back."

Hearing this, Fox wanted to drown himself in the Tasteless Stew as many times as he could.

"Well then," Sophia began, "shall I resume the chores of today?"

Sophia Esteed is a human girl born on Earth. Unlike most young girls of the present age, she excels in various household tasks such as cleaning and sewing. Sophie Esteed is Fayt's childhood friend, having been living very close to each other's house and the fact that their parents work at the same laboratory of symbological research. She, along with Fayt, had to separate from each other after the Vendeeni attacked Hyda IV. A long time passed, and Fayt eventually met up with Sophia by rescuing her from a hostage exchange situation. Ever since, Sophia decided to help Fayt and the others fight the Executioners. During battle, Sophia possesses great symbological magic, making her a spell caster during battles.

"Of course," Fayt said. "Also, while you and Mayu were away, we recruited more inventors with us."

Sophia tilted her head. "Oh, really? Who are they?"

"Glance around and see who you don't know."

The girl glanced around the workshop. Through her eyes, she could see a Lycanthrope plotting something with Puffy, some kind of cartoon-looking imp flying behind them as he held some potions, a teen wearing a hat with wings on side talking with Mishell, a Featherfolk reciting sentences with Misty Lear, some robot working with the machines alongside a 2-tailed fox with a sleeping hedgehog nearby, a red-haired boy working with Boyd as a man stood in front of the furnace, and lastly some Foxtail who she thought looked intimidating with his stoic look.

"...I think I know who know..." Sophia said. "But they...look kinda new to me... They look...how do I put it? Particular..."

"I know," Fayt muttered. "They're quite the group, huh?"

Sophia thought for a moment. "Don't they all look like they all came from another planet? Don't they know the rules of the UP3 law?"

"They do, but they already told me they're here to look after some group they've been chasing," Fayt muttered. "Just don't try to act suspicious, okay?"

"I...guess?" Sophia muttered confused. "They look rather strange if you ask me..."

"Me too..." Fayt said. "Actually, I have more things to say but it wouldn't be my place to interrogate them so much."

Sophia gasped. "B-but what if Maria comes back?"

"That was a quick response," Fayt remarked as Mayu went to check the stew, grabbing the ladle that Fox had put in the pot.

"W-well, you know how she acted when you decided to let Peppita come with us," Sophia said while Mayu took a sip of the stew. "Maria was against the idea, and she's probably still against it. If she comes back from Surferio, what do you think will happen once she sees all of them?"

Fayt thought for a moment while a confused Mayu took several sips of the stew, Fox already preparing his apology in his mind as Peppita walked back to the Crafting area with a skeptical Roger. "She'll probably go even further unlike me..." Fayt muttered. "...Do you think she and Mirage are on their back here?"

"Well, Surferio is like 1 hour away from here, and it'd take them both like another 1 hour to investigate the city, then come back in another hour," Sophia said while Mayu got a little bit bewildered at the Tasteless Stew, Fox now bowing to her while saying his apologies. "Actually, how long has it been since she and Mirage went there?"

Fayt looked up at the ceiling. "Like...3 hours..."

Sophia shook her head while Fox explained Mayu what he did. The vulpine didn't want to lie. "I don't think they're doing something else. They weren't attacked on their here either, right?"

"They would have called us through our Communicators," Fayt said as a depressed Mayu went to get more ingredients to make another stew, Fox feeling ashamed. "Also, they're pretty strong by their own. The Executioners outside wouldn't harm them very easily."

"I guess they're on their way here," Sophia said. "...Let's see what happens, okay? I'm worried, but maybe I could befriend some of them."

"You do that," Fayt said before he looked outside to see the sunset. "Oh man, it's getting late now. It's time to close the workshop."

"Really? Oh, I took a lot of time buying the ingredients..." Sophia said with a frown.

Fayt turned around before clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay, everybody, time to go home and close the workshop for today! Tomorrow we'll continue with what we left to do next. Also, be aware that some of you could be assigned to the other workshops in Aquios or Kirlsa."

"Rats," Puffy said with a pout. "I don't want to go to Kirlsa. The place stinks and the people there don't even know how to pronounce my name right."

"I-I was about to make my chocolate!" Chip complained a bit. "Ooh..."

"Tsk," Wolf said with a frown. "And here I was about to finish my own creation."

"Phew," Chris sighed. "My first day and my wrist hurts..."

"You'll get used to this," Mishell said. "You get better overtime."

"It seems we'll stop for today, Master Pit," Misty Lear said with a chuckle. "I'll look forward to see you again tomorrow."

By this time, Pit felt a little bit uncomfortable with the pale woman's attitude. "O-okay, I'll see you..."

"Hmph," Mackwell said nearby as he closed his book.

"I was busy!" Chilico simply said.

"Finally, I need some rest over here!" Roger complained. "I wanna hit the pillow!"

Peppita lifted up her hands. "Oh boy, I'm exhausted..."

"B-but I was just about to finish my device..." Tails said depressed. "Oh well, I have all the time tomorrow..."

"I must say, this is actually fun for me to do," Samus commented. "Maybe we could create items for us."

Sonic only responded with a snore while turning around to the wall.

"Well done for now," Boyd told Roy as he patted hard his right shoulder. "You're starting to show some promise in this field."

"O-oh, thanks," Roy said embarrassed. "I hope to do this more often. Thanks for the help."

C. Falcon took out the chain mail that he put back on the rock table. Suddenly, the chain mail turned into dust, making him gasp, look around if someone was looking, then blow the dust away into the air where it vanished. Sighing, he turned around while whistling.

"I'll start the stew all over again tomorrow..." Mayu said with a sniff.

Fox frowned to himself. "I hope I don't get too close to this area again..."

All the native inventors started for the door as they said their good byes to Fayt and the others. Soon, the workshop was occupied only by Fayt's group and the Smashers.

"Phew," Fayt said as he wiped from sweat from his forehead. "All done for today..."

Sophia watched as all the Smashers (except the snoring Sonic) walked up to them. The girl stared at them before shyly waving a hand at them. "I want you to meet Sophia," Fayt introduced her. "She's one of us."

"Hi there," Sophia said as calmly as she could. "It's nice to meet such a group like all of you."

Roger crossed his arms and looked away. "Tsk, you're also a softie, Sophia..." he muttered.

Sophia folded her arms behind her back. "So, you guys are new around here?"

A small while passed as Sophia was told about everything of every single one of them, basically the same they told Fayt and the others before.

"I see..." Sophia said before chuckling. "Well, we'll hope to be of help for all of you."

Fayt put a hand on his hip. "Do you guys have anywhere to spend the night?"

"Well, we don't have exactly a place to rest," Samus said. "(I have to back up our statements with something so they believe we don't have a place... Oh, wait, this universe has an intergalactic war across the whole universe so...) We've been wandering quite a long way from our spaceship," she explained. "We left our spaceship far off south from here."

"Well, would you mind us to make some reservations at the inn of Peterny?" Fayt asked. "We don't mind giving you some rooms there. We have plenty of money to give you your rooms to rest for night."

"That'd be nice," Pit commented. "I'm getting a little bit exhausted after studying alchemy."

Fayt smiled a bit. "It's settled, then. Follow us to the inn."

As he turned around, he forgot the fact that the door was left opened. By the time he found out that fact, he met face-to-face with a young teen girl standing in the door with another woman nearby, everyone else also noticing the new people. Fayt blinked a few times before looking a bit surprised.

"Y-you already checked Surferio?" Fayt suddenly asked to the young woman in front of him.

The long blue-haired girl by the door wore a soldier uniform with black sleeves, and a long gray trail coat. The girl also wore black pants with a holster for a blaster weapon she had, and black boots.

The woman behind her looked a little bit happy. The blond-haired woman had a short ponytail, wore a small black jacket with a black vest underneath, yellow belt, wore black knuckles, black pants, and black boots (all black clothing didn't imply she was a goth).

The first girl ran a hand through her long hair. "Hi, Fayt, everyone," she greeted. "We already went to check up on Surferio. There weren't any attacks from the Executioners."

"I...see...Maria..." Fayt said unsure.

Maria Traydor is a young and beautiful human girl born on Earth who is the leader of the anti-Federation organization Quark - a group most active in the Klaus system. Maria has been long hunted by Federation officials due to her enigmatic power of Alteration (a special power that manipulates and changes matter as she pleases) that she was given by Symbology genetics through scientists during her childhood. She was the one who planned Fayt's abduction which ultimately led him to meet her in person. A long time had ever since passed, and Maria has become acquainted with the people she met. Whenever she can, Maria is always shown to be the voice of reason, many times being blunt. In battle, she's considerably a strong fighter for both long-range attacks with her phase guns and close-combat attacks with her kicks.

Maria nodded. "Pretty much everything's okay over that side." She looked behind the counter where the Smashers were staring at her. "And...I see you brought people in here..."

Fayt gasped once Maria's eyes kept staring at the silent group before she slowly walked forward to the counter. The blue-haired boy knew Maria was going to do something to see the odd group.

"You know, Fayt..." Maria began as she stopped walking, still staring at the Smashers. "Many of the people here don't look like they were born in this planet in the first place..."









Cliff Fittir
A Klausian from Klaus III.
A member of the anti-Federation organization Quark, which was founded
by Klausians, Cliff rescued Fayt for an unknown reason. Although he relinquished the post to Maria, Cliff used to be the leader
of the anti-Federation organization, Quark, and is also the
organization's founder.
Considering that he organized Quark, Cliff must be quite intelligent
and charismatic, but at first glance, he only looks like a thug.

Nel Zelpher
A runologist working for the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria who has infiltrated the Kingdom of Airyglyph in order to gather information as
a spy.
Having learned of the importance of the peculiar technology owned by
Fayt, she felt that Fayt is the person prophesied in ancient Aquarian
texts, and decided to make contact with him regardless of any danger
this might entail.

Albel Nox
The captain of the Black Brigade, one of the three military forces of
the Kingdom of Airyglyph.  His nickname is Albel the Wicked.
He is an excellent combatant specializing in the katana, a special kind
of sword.

Mirage Koas
A Klausian woman born on Klaus IV, and Cliff's partner in Quark.
She may be low-key, but she is dependable and gets the mission accomplished.
Mirage trusts Cliff's skills, and will faithfully follow any command, no matter how crazy it may sound.
Seeing Mirage and Cliff in action might give one the wrong impression. 
Klausians are not particularly chauvinistic.  Mirage just happens to
have an extremely unpretentious personality.

Adray Lasbard
Although not as active as before, he used to be part of the Crimson
Blade.  Together with Nevelle Zelpher, he supported the growth and
prosperity of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria.

Although he has great knowledge and makes good use of symbology, he
hates deskwork, as he has a hard time sitting still.
Knowing this, people around him never make him do that kind of work.

[DededeCloneChris]

Seeing that Maria wanted an answer and the fact most of them were looking a little bit helpless, Fox crossed his arms and decided to speak. "Of course we're not from this planet," he said, looking serious at her. "We're here because we're after a group we've been chasing for a long time now."

Maria crossed her own arms and looked at the vulpine. Something about her look made Fox think she was already judging him. "Really?" she asked somewhat amused. "Care to give me all the details for that?"

"Maria!" Sophia yelled.

Maria looked at her. "Sorry, but it sounds very fishy to find such people like them here," she said. "I want to know everything they know to actually come here and risk themselves against the Executioners."

"B-but don't you think you're going kinda far?" Peppita asked as she was seen besides (for some reason) Fox. "I mean, you barely met them..."

"And I can imply you barely met them as well, right?"

"...W-well..." Peppita knew Maria was right. "...Yeah..." she muttered embarrassed.

"Just as I thought," Maria said. "I'd like to hear the reason behind your visit to this planet."

Fox grinned at her. "Okay then, I'll tell you everything."

A time passed after Fox told Maria everything about their reasons being in Elicoor II. The leader of Quark nodded at almost all the facts the leader of Star Fox told her. After Maria, and the woman behind her, were told about their reasons, Maria rubbed her chin. "So, you're saying you're secret agents of the Pangalactic Federation, and most of you come from races that like to be secretive and secluded from every other person in the universe, right?"

"That's about right," Fox said.

"...Hmm..." Maria narrowed her eyes at them. "...Most of what you said didn't make much sense to me, though..."

The Smashers looked a little bit surprised as Fox's eyes widened a bit. "What do you mean by that?" Fox asked, trying to sound not suspicious enough to Maria while Fayt, Sophia, and Peppita watched somewhat worried as Roger looked amused.

Maria closed her eyes. "It sounds very fishy to me for the Pangalactic Federation to have undercover agents," she explained. "I know that very well because I've researched the organization itself for quite a long time now. And..." She opened her eyes to look at them. "I haven't heard a bit about undercover agents...at all..."

The Smashers looked at Fox. By now, the vulpine knew they were relying on him by the looks of the situation. Fox looked serious at Maria as he came up with more things to talk back to her. "You probably didn't hear enough to know about us," Fox said. "How can you tell all that, anyway?"

"I can tell all that because it's common knowledge," Maria stated. "You're probably the only people in the whole galaxy who stand out the most...well, most of you stand out, anyway."

"So you're judging us because how we look," Fox said with a small glare.

"I know for sure you're not a Foxtail or even close to it," Maria said. "Also, the Lycanthrope you have there is not even in a berserk state. All Lycanthropes are known to act as mindless beasts when they're transformed. How come this one is so calm?"

Wolf glared at her. "Oh, come on, I have a lot of control in myself to be considered a mindless beast."

"Really now?" Maria asked. "You and your "Foxtails" friends are raising me a lot of doubts now."

"Call me a friend of Fox and the 2-tailed kid again and you'll regret it later," Wolf responded coldly.

"Oh, sorry," Maria said, a bit of a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"L-look," Roy began. "We're just a special undercover group working for the Punlilactic Federation."

Maria stared at him. "...Care to repeat the name of the federation again?"

Pit gasped. The angel knew Roy didn't exactly say the correct name of the organization. Maria was surely going to use this little mistake to further interrogate them. "E-er, my friend here doesn't know how to pronounce the name exactly," Pit suddenly said.

"Hey!" Roy yelled.

"He's not that good for pronouncing longer words for that matter," Pit said nervously. "Make him say onomatopoeia and he'll surely say something different."

Maria looked at Roy. "Say onomatopoeia."

"E-er..." Roy had to make Pit's untrue fact believable. "...Elematothing..."

"..." Maria looked bored at him. "...Are you joking or what?" she asked before frowning. "You're trying to hide something from us, aren't you?"

The World Traveler pondered something in his mind. Chris asked himself why they needed to be constantly lying to almost everyone they met to find the Subspace Army. He thought that by explaining their true intentions would be good enough to not lie, but he also knew nobody would believe them at all. It was not like they would look for Fayt and suddenly tell him, "We need you and your group to help us fight the Subspace Army to make them leave your world" or something close like that.

Also, it was not like Fayt's group to actually help them out of the blue since they were probably dealing with their own affairs. Chris recalled the time he told everything to Wes and Rui previously, but that happened after traveling around with them until bringing up their reasons. Chris met a hard question he wanted to solve for himself.

"We're not hiding you anything," Fox said. "Stop thinking we're shady."

"Well then, stop looking shady," Maria said somewhat amused. "Can you do that?"

Deciding to stop further interrogations by the blunt woman, Fayt looked at Maria. "Maria, I think you shouldn't try to take this to yourself."

"What?" Maria asked. "Are you saying you're not bothered to see this kind of people in this planet? Sorry, Fayt, but I'll have to object you for that."

"Why?"

Maria crossed her arms. "If you have forgotten, the whole galaxy is at a big problematic situation with the Executioners," she said. "Now, they said they didn't get to see or hear about the Executioners in their way here. How can that be if I've heard reports of multiple Executioner attacks across all the systems in the galaxy? I find it fishy they don't even know what an Executioner is."

"We happened not to hear anything from them," Tails said.

"So you say," Maria said. "Even so, there's something of you I can't just leave alone that easily..."

"You tell 'em!" Roger said as he lifted up a fist.

Ignoring Roger's small encouraging sentence, Sophia looked at Maria. "Please, Maria, we're all worn out after working here through the entire day. We want to rest for now."

Maria looked at Sophia before the look turned into a stare. Fayt's childhood friend looked worried as the leader of Quark looked serious at her. "...Okay," Maria said, giving up. "To be honest, we just came from an Executioner attack ourselves on our way here...yet another ambush."

"Oh my, are you hurt?"

"Not at all," Maria said. "As always, fighting the same enemy over and over again every day makes one very predictable of them," she explained before she looked at the Smashers. "However, don't think I'm going to stop here with this."

"Oh, c'mon," C. Falcon said with a grin. "Can't you give us a rest?"

"I'll give you all a rest once I get to the bottom of this," Maria looked bored at them. "I'm not just in the mood to be arguing now."

Peppita looked bored at her. "(You're not always in the mood as you say...)"

"Oh, and also," Maria began. "I haven't introduced myself, have I?" she asked before coughing. "My name is Maria Traydor, nice to meet you."

The Smashers didn't exactly see a point for Maria to greet them at this point. By now, Maria's attitude gave them all a bad impression of her. However, they knew Maria wasn't exactly stupid, but the otherwise. They were all practically at her mercy.

Suddenly, from behind them, they began to hear chuckled coming from a sleeping Sonic, who hadn't woke up for the entire conversation. The hedgehog was chuckling aloud until he sat up and yelled "MARIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" loudly to the ceiling before cracking up, everyone turning to him as they noticed his closed eyes, indicating he was sleep talking.

"..." Maria stared at the blue hedgehog. "...I'd infer that hedgehog guy over there is a friend of yours as well..."

"Yeah..." Tails said. "He's Sonic the Hedgehog..."

"...Original name," Maria said with sarcasm.

It was not long before the hedgehog began to talk more as he rolled his face a bit to them. "Maria..." he chuckled. "Who in their right mind names herself Maria, anyway?" he asked, making some of the Smashers gasp silently. "Stupid Shadow and Maria..." he continued as a grin appeared on his face. "I'll throw Maria an emo hedgehog and see what happens... The moment is just so...priceless, I swear..."

The Smashers were looking shocked after the hedgehog rolled a bit to the wall. Looking back, they all noticed Maria's serious yet bored look.

"...Please, don't mind anything he said," Samus said. "Sonic was just being...himself... He's like this all the time..."

"...I am going to mind what he said," Maria said bored. "Nobody jokes and insults a name for no reason. I found that offensive to me as well."

Peppita looked worried. "I-I don't understand, what is emo?"

"It's nothing you should know for now," Fox muttered.

Maria sighed with a frown. "Oh well, I'm tired myself as well so we may as well call it a day," she said before turning to the door. "I'll go ahead and reserve a room. If you don't mind, I'll leave for now." She looked at the Smashers over her right shoulder. "Let me tell you this before I go: I won't stop this conversation. For now, you're all good to go anywhere you like, but expect me to ask you more questions."

Maria started to leave, some of the Smashers glared at her back before she left the workshop. Fayt, Sophia, and Peppita looked at each other worried before the blue-haired teen decided to speak. "I'm sorry if she offended you," Fayt said.

"You know Maria's like that, Fayt," said the woman who stepped in the workshop, the same one that was accompanying Maria. "She will never change her attitude...that easily, that is."

"Oh, there you are, Mirage," Sophia said with relief.

The woman, named Mirage, put a hand on her hip as she smiled at the Smashers. "Well, what did I miss? Can I get an update of what had happened here when we were away?"

Mirage Koas is a Klausian (a race that have been remarked through the universe for having better strength than the average human) woman born on Klaus IV, and Cliff's partner in Quark. She may be low-key, but she is dependable and gets the mission accomplished. Mirage trusts Cliff's skills, and will faithfully follow any command, no matter how crazy it may sound.
Seeing Mirage and Cliff in action might give one the wrong impression. Klausians are not particularly chauvinistic. Mirage just happens to have an extremely unpretentious personality.

"I think you pretty much know everything," Sophia said. "Seriously, I think Maria goes too far sometimes."

Mirage chuckled. "You know her, alright." She turned to the Smashers (not noticing the grin C. Falcon was giving to her). "Hi everyone, I'm Mirage Koas, nice to meet you all."

"Glad here," C. Falcon commented with a wink, not noticing the bored look Chris was giving him. "I guess you know our names, right?"

"Pretty much after Maria interrogated you," Mirage said. "Sorry if she made you feel uncomfortable. Maria doesn't like to see unusual events so she'll try to find a reasonable reason behind all of them if she's nothered." She rubbed her chin. "But I have to agree with some points she made with you all, though."

"Oh please, don't give us the same treatment she just did," Roy said.

"Don't worry about that," Mirage said with a small smile. "I know better than her that some things should be better keep as a secret."

"Good..." Tails sighed. "In truth, I was getting so worried if she planned to resort to violence."

"She only resorts to violence only when necessary," Mirage explained. "That only happens during fights, though. Maria doesn't hurt anybody unless they're our enemies which I think you're not, right?"

"Right," Samus said.

"Well," Mirage began with a chuckle. "Shall we leave for the inn? I want to wait for Cliff and the others to return soon. They're surely taking a lot of time in Aquios and Airyglyph."

"Good riddance..." Wolf muttered.

Fayt coughed a bit. "Okay, please forget anything you thought was offensive by Maria and follow us to the inn. She's going to be there so be careful around her. Don't try to make her mad or else...well...you'll know what would happen..."

Chris looked bored. "I'm already seeing my grave."

Sophia bowed to them. "Please, just try to be friendly around her and everything will be just fine, okay?"

"As long as she stays away from the Sonic guy..." Roger muttered. "Then he'll be dead meat..."

"Can we just go to the inn?" Chip asked yawning. "I wanna wish to dream with chocolate fields tonight..."

Wolf rubbed his chin. "Wait..." He looked outside where the night was already coming. "Night time...doesn't that mean..."

"GEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Most of the Smashers' eyes widened after hearing a menacing howl coming from behind them. Fayt's group, confused at the howl, looked behind the group where they gasped after seeing a bulky beast getting up from the cold floor. The figure growled silently before looking at itself.

"Aw, dangit!" Sonic cursed once he looked at his big claws, everyone else staring at him. "And here I thought I forgot about it completely!"

"KYAH!" Sophia yelped. "A-a-a Lycanthrope!"

Fayt looked at her. "I thought we already had one here."

"...Oh, sorry..." Sophia said with a sigh. "...But even so, KYAH!"

Sonic lowered his fists on the floor and looked at them with his menacing look. "Oh, guess I overslept," he said with a chuckle, showing his bare fangs for a bit. "So, what did I miss?"

Chris face palmed. "Sonic, how can you ASK that in a moment like this?" he asked irritated. "It's not like everyone in the whole universe know you're a werehog!"

"Er, Chris, I think you're saying too much now," Roy whispered.

The dragoon looked at Fayt's group. For the looks of their faces, Sophia was obviously scared, Mirage had a surprised look, Fayt stared at the werehog in curiosity, Peppita looked shocked, and as for Roger...

...

...Where did Roger go? He was standing besides Fayt a minute ago.

"H-hey, what are you doing?" Sonic was heard asking.

The dragoon turned around to find Roger walking around Sonic. Apparently, the Menodix was examining the werehog with a big hint of excitement in his eyes as he paced around Sonic. "Just look how awesome this guy turned out to be!" Roger yelled in excitement as he lifted up one of Sonic's claws.  "Check out his muscles, they're underneath fur but it's so awesome!"

The Menodix are a cheerful race living in the Sanmite Republic which is descended from raccoons. They may not be very tall, but they boast dexterous fingers and a high level of adaptability to new circumstances. Compared to other races, Menodixes have an excellent sense of smell. Their downfall is that they are very curious and easily excitable, characteristics which more often than not will act together to offset the Menodixes positive characteristics. Strangely enough, Menodixes have an excellent ear for music and there are many eminent Menodix troubadours. Unfortunately, thanks to the innate Menodix personality almost no one is aware of this fact.

"..." Sonic raised a big eyebrow at him. "...Okay?"

"Just okay? What is wrong with you, honestly?" Roger asked. "I thought you were some kind of lame dude, but after you just turned into THIS all of a sudden, well, I take everything back what I thought about you!"

"..." Sonic glared at him. "What were you thinking of me, then?"

"I thought you looked weak, stupid, everything a lummox is," Roger said. "But after seeing you turning into a wolf, man, did I get a surprise of that!"

Pit looked back at Fayt while the excited Roger literally touched Sonic almost everywhere. "Is...Roger always like this as well?"

"Yeah..." Fayt said before shaking his head. "I guess...that's natural for your friend to transform during the night, then?"

Chris turned at him and raised a finger to explain Fayt and the others about Sonic's transformation. However, Fox blocked his mouth. "Yeah, very natural," Fox said with some nods. "Sonic has this curse that he needs to get rid of very soon so we're helping him. Actually, that's another reason why we're chasing the group we're looking for..."

Fayt looked back to an annoyed Sonic as Roger pulled his furred quills. "...I see..." Fayt said.

"..." Peppita smiled and chuckled. "You guys are so way interesting," she muttered with some excitement.

Inn
Chris's Room

Environmental Noises

After explaining even more details to Fayt's group about Sonic's transformation, they all, taken by Fayt and the others, went to the inn of Peterny (which was located just to the right of the workshop they were working). Their rooms were already arranged by the time Fayt dotted down their names, also paying the fee.

In a room with a 17th century feeling, there was Chris laying down on one of the two beds of his room. As far as he knew, everyone was paired up with somebody else in the other rooms of the in due to the fact he saw all the rooms were the same.

The dragoon removed his hat and red jacket to put them on a drawer that was between the 2 beds. Chris sighed and laid down his head on the soft pillow, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. "...This is so boring..." he muttered as the darkness of the room was illuminated with some moonlight from the windows against the beds. "There's no one here to talk with..." Chris muttered more. "...Normally, I'd have Lucario close to me to talk with but he's not here..."

The dragoon sighed as he turned his head to the left, his eyes closing.

"This feels...just as like I was before I met Lucario..." Chris muttered. "...I wish somebody would come and sleep together with me, but I don't want to be stingy..."

Suddenly, the door of the room opened. Chris covered his head with the bed sheet to make himself look like he was sleeping. He heard some hard boots walking on top of the wooden floor, getting closer to where he was.

The situation didn't make him feel uncomfortable.

"(...Oh no...)" Chris thought as the sound of the footsteps stopped. "(Someone is here... He, she, or it is probably standing just behind me...)" He looked serious. "(Oh, hell no. I won't let whoever got here do something to me, not on my watch... Now, what could I do to attack?)"

Chris felt a hand grabbing the bed sheet.

"(...At the count of 3...)"

The bed sheet got pulled back, prompting the dragoon to make a gun sign with his right hand to aim his index finger to his enemy.

"S-stay back!" Chris yelled with closed eyes. "M-my finger may not look like it, but it can shoot bullets...and...fire!" he proclaimed. "Turn back and I won't resort to long-range violence at short distance!"

"Oh no, whatever will I do? Somebody, help me. Chris is threatening me with his index finger of doom. Oh no, the pain I'll receive..."

The dragoon began to hear some chuckles in front of him. The voice was so obviously easy to recognize. Chris opened his eyes where he found himself aiming his index finger right up to Fox's nose, the vulpine looking down amused at him.

"...What?" Fox asked with a grin. "You don't have any bullets to shoot my nose?"

"...Y-you..." Chris lowered his "gun" and looked a little bit mad at the vulpine. "W-what do you think you're doing in my room?"

Fox crossed his arms. "Can't I stay here to sleep for the night?"

The question made Chris tilt his head. "...Er..." Chris trailed off, staring at the vulpine. "...I thought you already had a room..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "To be honest, I didn't like to be with Samus because...I was bored," he admitted. "Hardly anybody here talk that much with me. I don't happen to be that tired enough to sleep as well."

"...So you're saying to left your room because you were bored?"

Fox nodded. "Well, mainly because I don't talk too much with Samus. As soon as I left, C. Falcon snuck inside the room before I hear some explosions coming from it. I don't talk with Roy and Pit. I could have slept with Tails but he's already sharing a room with Sonic and Chip. And Wolf..." Fox looked bored. "Should I bother saying why to you when it's obvious?"

"...No..." Chris said.

Suddenly, the 2 turned their looks at the door where a malevolent voice came from Sonic's room. From what they could tell, the evil voice yelled loudly "WHERE THE F(BEEP) IS THAT MOTHERF(BEEP)R, HUH, HUH, HUH?! ANSWER ME, B(BEEP)S!!! UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" followed by screams from Tails and Chip.

The dragoon sighed and frowned. Fox watched as Chris left his bed, put on his boots, jacket, and hat on, changed to his Beastmaster job, and began to walk to the door as he prepared his whip. "Sorry, but I need to do some business with a certain maniac over the next room. I'll be right back," the beastmaster said as he left the room by closing the door.

Fox shifted his eyes around before the sound of a whip lashing someone echoed. A curse came from the dark voice, some thanks were said to Chris, and the beastmaster then returned, changed to his dragoon job, put his jacker and hat on the drawer and put his boots on the left side of the bed before he got on the bed and covered himself with the bed sheet, laying down his head on the pillow while looking at Fox.

"You were saying?" Chris asked.

The leader of Star Fox shook his head. "I was saying I was bored with Samus so I decided to see if you were sleeping alone for the night to sleep with you."

"...Oh, I see." Chris smiled a bit at him before looking away embarrassed. "I-I wouldn't mind having someone else here to sleep with me. I don't like sleeping all alone as well."

Fox chuckled and sat down on the left bed. "Well then, thanks," he said as he began to take off his white flight jacket that he tossed on the floor, revealing his furred arms. "You're the only one left I hang out pretty well with."

Chris yawned a bit and turned to the right as Fox began to take off his gloves, red scarf, and headgear that he put on the drawer, and his red-and-black tanker boots on the floor. "...Fox..."

"Yeah?" Fox asked as he put his feet on his bed and covered himself with the bed sheet.

Chris turned his head to him. "You see..." He looked away for a bit. "...Well, I just wanted to know something..."

"What would that be?"

"Hmm..." Chris thought for a moment. "...You said your father read that book to you when you were younger, right?"

"Yeah."

"I was wondering something...how did you and your father lived?"

Fox rested his right arm on his right knee as he stared down at his feet. "...You want me to tell you?"

"Well...if you don't want to..." Chris muttered. "It's just that now that I have the chance to talk to you in private I wanted to...know more about you, you know..." he said embarrassed. "I-I know it could revive you some dreadful memories...but...maybe you could remember the good times..."

"...Heh," Fox chuckled a bit before looking at Chris. "I did say I was bored so...alright," he said as he laid down his head on the pillow with folded arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. "Since I trust you're not going to tell anybody this, you promise you won't do that?"

"N-not at all," Chris said. "M-my curiosity is so big right now and I want to know much more about yourself, Fox..."

"Well, I don't see why I shouldn't tell you about myself," Fox said with a small grin. "Okay, Chris, I'm going to tell you everything about my past with my father."

Chris smiled delighted as Fox prepared to narrate.

"Truth is, I didn't live a happy life shortly after I was born..."

Now Chris knew he just made Fox revive an awful memory...

Fox looked depressed. "Shortly when I was born, my mother died..." he muttered. "When that happened, my father was at a loss because he didn't know how to take care of babies, at least that's what Peppy told me about. Peppy knew my father very well since both had grown together as friends. It was a total chaos, let me tell you..."

Chris turned to him. "What happened the following years, then?"

"Well...I don't remember much of it, but fortunately I remember some of it thanks to Peppy... I hope this is right..."

Flashback

Corneria
Great Fox - Bridge

High above the skies of Corneria, the Great Fox flew slowly as it looked like it was floating in the night. Suddenly, cries of a baby began to make long high-pitched yells as 2 familiar figures were looking at each other.

"Aww, I can imagine you as a baby," Chris said with a few chuckles.

One of the figures was a young Peppy Hare who had his ears covered by his hands as he was sitting down on a chair while looking up at his comrade.

And the other figure was a young James McCloud who was carrying a small fox baby within a blue mantle on his arms. The baby was his son, Fox McCloud, who had now 1 year of being born.

However, the night wasn't very pleasant as the baby Fox cried loudly enough for the Great Fox's inner areas to bounce his cries and yells. This didn't look good for both the hare and the father of the crying child.

"Why did you want to take him here?!" Peppy yelled loudly at James who merely grinned nervously at him. "Do you REALLY think I know how to take care of babies?!"

"Well, I thought you did!" James yelled as his son cried loudly. "Geez, Peppy, you're the brains of the team here!"

"I didn't study to be a babysitter, you know!" Peppy yelled as the baby cried louder. "I know you have your hands full with your son, but it's not a good idea to resort to my help when I don't even know how to take care of babies like him!"

"If my wife was alive, this wouldn't happen so frecuently!" James yelled as his sunglasses lowered down a bit, but not enough to see his eyes as he pulled them back to place. "There's something I know well about my son, though!"

"What would that be?!"

"He has pretty strong lungs for being a newborn!"

Peppy grunted annoyed as the baby kept crying. "James, focus for once! We're dealing with quite the dilemma with your son! Do something about him!"

"What do you expect me to do?!" James asked as Fox cried loudly. "I know I'm his father, but I didn't expect a situation like this one!"

At that moment, from behind James, an annoyed Pigma (less fat and younger) came from the hallway of the spaceship as he was seen covering his ears. "Ugh, somebody shut that baby down before I'll do it myself!" Pigma yelled loudly as he stood besides James.

James and Peppy looked at him. "What, you know how to calm him down?!" James asked interested.

"Yeah," Pigma said as he took out a Blaster. "Just don't move him and I-"

James quickly slapped the Blaster away from Pigma's hand. The pig snorted angrily at this as the leader of Star Fox looked down at his crying son. "Oh, please, Fox, calm down for once! There's nothing to cry for!"

But his pleas fell to deaf ears as the young vulpine clutched his small fists underneath his snout. James, Peppy, and Pigma all looked up at the ceiling in annoyance as the baby kept crying.

"For crying out loud, James," Pigma began annoyed. "Shut your son's mouth!"

"It's easier said than done!" James yelled at him. "At least you're not planning to have children, but I DO care to have at least one with me!"

"I wasn't born to help you out!" Pigma complained as he looked at James. "I thought you knew that this was going to happen from the beginning you decided to have him...HERE!" he yelled loudly, making Fox cry even louder than before to the point he fully opened his mouth. "Damn it, where's his baby bottle when you need it?!"

"Baby bottle?!" Peppy asked. "Hey, Pigma is being useful here for once!"

"Hey!"

Peppy pointed at James, making him take a step back. "James, go look for his baby bottle! I'm sure he's crying because he's hungry!"

James chuckled nervously, making both members look at him annoyed.

"...You just didn't forget his baby bottle in your house, right?" Pigma muttered, not minding the baby crying.

"I thought it wasn't necessary..." James muttered.

"...Peppy, I want to ask a favor to you," Pigma muttered. "...Whatever I do...don't let me rip his head off..."

James looked serious at him. "You're not going to rip my head off, ever."

"I meant Fox, not you!" Pigma yelled. "(Although the idea doesn't sound that bad...)"

James looked down at his crying son's mouth before he decided to close it by using his index finger and thumb to make Fox stop crying.

The easy idea produced the silence of the Great Fox. Peppy and Pigma noticed that the cries weren't there anymore, and they uncovered their ears before sighing loudly with a relieved James.

"Why didn't you do that from the beginning?" Pigma asked annoyed.

James chuckled. "Well, I didn't think of it myself," he admitted. "Guess I have what it takes to be a father."

Suddenly, the baby vulpine glared at the fingers closing his mouth before he pulled his snout back and bit hard the 2 fingers with his small sharp fangs. James's eyes widened as his tail pointed straight up to the ceiling before he began to scream loudly at the strong bite from his son. Peppy and Pigma exchanged glances as the father jumped crazily on his spot to try and save his fingers from his own son without having to use enough force to startle Fox.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" James yelled loudly enough to make Peppy and Pigma laugh at him. "F-Fox, stop it, you're gonna rip my fingers off with those fangs of yours! Oww!"

Fortunately, his baby blinked a few times before he released James's bleeding fingers. The leader of Star Fox looked at his bleeding fingers before Pigma began to crack up while Peppy covered his mouth to stop his chuckled from coming out. James looked down at his baby, who was now looking happy for the little mischief he did.

"You..." James muttered.

"Heheheh!" Fox giggled happily, his face looked very happy as he smiled a bit at his father.

As Pigma and Peppy's laughs started to get more silent, the pig grinned at the vulpine. "What do you know, I hated your son a moment ago, and now he appealed to me!"

James glared at Pigma. "You're just happy to see me screw up, aren't you?"

Pigma lifted up his hands to his shoulders' level. "It's for you to guess."

James grunted before noticing that Fox was giggling happily at him. His father looked down at him as Fox tried to reach for his face. James, not having a good idea, pulled the baby closer to his face where Fox grabbed his nose. "...Oh no," James said. "My baby's got a killer grip. I can't breathe..."

Pigma rolled his eyes at this while Peppy watched amused as the father and son chuckled to each other. Peppy watched as the grinning James pulled and pushed back and forth his son that constantly picked his nose in curiosity.

"Heheheh..." Fox giggled happily as James put him against his chest, a finger touching Fox's own nose.

"Just reminding you that you have one as well," James said with a grin. "Didn't you know that?"

Fox stared at him with a happy expression.

Peppy coughed a bit. "W-well, it seems we adverted another crisis..."

James looked annoyed at him. "Oh, don't joke about Fox like that, Peppy..." He walked to Peppy and quickly put Fox on his arms. "Here, play with Uncle Peppy for a bit."

Peppy raised an eyebrow. "Uncle Peppy, huh... How creative of you..."

"Heheheh," Fox giggled as he looked up at Peppy.

"...Now, don't you look like you father?" Peppy asked amused as he looked down at Fox. "It's amazing, James. You and Fox share the same stoic look."

"Pfft, what'd you expect, Peppy?" Pigma asked. "It's obvious this little brat was gonna look like James."

"Wow, I take that as a remark from you," James said as he crossed his arms. "Thanks, Pigma."

"Tsk..." Pigma looked away.

"Always tryin' to look tough, huh?" James with a chuckle before he looked at Fox trying to pull some of Peppy's whiskers. "Now, now, Fox, you don't want to rip Uncle Peppy's whiskers now, do you?"

Fox's curiosity was big as he tried to reach for Peppy's whiskers, the hare constantly moving his face away from the clueless baby. "Fox, knock it off, please," Peppy said with a few chuckled. "James already alarmed me from your killer grip."

"Heheheh," Fox giggled happily as he pulled his small fists back to his neck. The young vulpine blinked as his father gently grabbed him back on his left arm. The young vulpine looked at Pigma from his spot. "..." Fox moved his hands at Pigma as he wanted to reach him out.

"By the way, I really hate Pigma," Fox reminded Chris. "I wasn't aware of what I was doing during my early days, so don't go thinking nice things between me and Pigma, okay?"

James chuckled a bit before looking at Pigma. "Hey, Pigma, Fox wants to look at you now."

Pigma turned to him and looked at Fox. The young vulpine looked happy at him, causing Pigma to turn around and walk away a few steps. "Oh no, I'm not letting him get close to me. What if he pukes on me?"

"C'mon, he's not gonna do something like that to you," James said before looking at Fox. "Isn't that right, Fox? You're not gonna puke on Uncle Pigma's face, right?"

"U-Uncle Pigma?" Pigma repeated embarrassed. "W-what are you thinking now, James? I'm not his uncle!"

"He gotta have uncles," James said. "Surely you want him to admire you one of these days once he grows older, don't you?"

"Bah, why would I want that?" Pigma asked as he waved a hand in front of him. "I don't want your son falling to my feet and praise me for things I don't want to get praised for! I don't want to have him all the time with me, thank you very much."

James rolled his eyes with a frown before looking down at Fox. "Well, looks like Uncle Pigma's in a bad mood," he said, Pigma hiding a small grunt. "Well then, what do you want to do now, Fox?"

"..." Fox merely blinked at him.

"...Oh, right, I have to remember you can't talk yet," James said embarrassed. "Well, Fox, I'm going to wait for you until you get yourself a voice. I'd guess you'll have a manly voice so the girls fall for you."

Fox giggled happily.

"Oh, James..." Peppy frowned. "It's been hardly a year and now you're expecting a lot of things from him..."

"Hey, unlike you, I like to believe in my son," James said. "I'm going to give him my full support so he grows to become a fine young man that I want to have around with me. He's going to be my sidekick of the sorts once he becomes older."

"Geez, I didn't know you wanted to put your own son at risk of dying during our battles," Pigma said with a frown. "I can't just seem to understand a guy like you, James."

James flashed him a confident grin. "You two'll see soon enough how this little baby will become the greatest hero of Corneria."

"Now you're lifting this way too high for him," Pigma said. "Can't you just let him get the usual life every person has?"

James shook his head. "I want my son to become successful," he said. "I know he wants to be big, right, Fox?"

"Heheheh!" Fox giggled as he nodded.

"...Hey, check this out, he understands me," James said as he lifted Fox up over his head. "That's a very good sign now." He watched as Fox tried to touch his face from the seemingly long distance between him and James.

Pigma walked to him. "Are you really sure you can raise him alone, James?"

"Who said I was going to raise him alone?" James asked. "Heck, I'm as clueless as you 2 are. I need some help here."

Peppy got off from his seat and folded his arms behind his back. "W-well, now you're pitting us both to raise him together with you..."

"...OH NO," Pigma said as he shook his head quickly. "There is no darn way in hell I'm going to raise a kid here!"

"Too bad, the 3 of us are on the same train with this little brave man," James said as he grinned up at Fox, noticing he had a relieved look on his face. "Yeah, just look at his face. He's already thinking about his future as one of the members of Team Star Fox."

Peppy and Pigma looked at the relieved expression Fox was making, his eyes looking at different ways. For some reason, the 2 other members didn't exactly think that expression hinted anything about what James said.

"...Er..." Peppy looked around. "...Aren't you guys...starting to notice something different in the air?"

"Why, yes..." Pigma said. "...It's starting to smell pretty badly, actually..."

James's wide grin suddenly vanished as he stared up at Fox before pulling him down to his chest's level. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm..." Fox hmm'd in his mouth with some pleasure.

"...Oh, look at the time, I must be sleeping by now," Peppy said as he began to back away before as James stared down in curiosity at the baby.

"...He's all yours..." Pigma muttered as he backed away from them before he turned around and ran into the hallway.

It became very apparent to James about why Pigma and Peppy decided to leave him all alone with the relieved Fox. It took him some seconds before he looked shocked at Fox. "Fox...you just didn't..."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm..." Fox responded relieved as he giggled silently.

"...Oh, crap...literally..." James muttered with a frown before looking around. "Er...does anybody here know how to change diapers? ...Anyone? ...Hello?" He turned to the hallway where he began to walk with Fox. "...Hello? ...Peppy? ...Pigma? ...You guys listening? ...Hello? ...Anybody?"

The smell started to get even worse overtime.

"Please, don't make me change diapers here!" James pleaded. "It's the daycare's babysitter's job to do this, not me!"

The night continued as the father carried his relieved son around the Great Fox, unfortunately not getting any help from his fellow comrades who shut the doors to their rooms so he wouldn't bother them.

"Really, this isn't funny!" James yelled. "I'm not joking either! This isn't making me laugh! You guys are supposed to help me here!"

Silence replied to him.

"Guys!"

Peterny
Inn

End of flashback

"..." Chris looked a little bit surprised at Fox.

The vulpine scratched his head embarrassed. "Well, that's part of the story I'm willing to tell you for now..."

"...James wasn't exactly acting cool that time, right?"

"Er, Peppy told me I was the only person in the whole world who could make my father lose his attitude because he didn't know much how to raise me," Fox admitted. "...Well, he did put me at a daycare where he left constantly so he could do his job with Peppy and Pigma. I have to say the babysitters taught me more than he did like speaking." Fox smiled a bit. "Peppy told me my first word was daddy."

Chris smiled a bit at him. "Aww, that's cute."

Fox blushed a bit. "R-really now? T-that's odd coming from you..."

"H-hey, I like cute things," Chris said blushing. "I'm that weird..."

"...I see..." Fox said chuckling a bit before he yawned. "Well, Chris, that's all I can tell you for now... Thanks to you, I was able to have some fun by telling you about myself, though. Thanks."

Chris made a happy expression. "Don't worry as well. I enjoyed listening to you."

Fox grinned at him. "And there's more... I can tell you the rest of my childhood tomorrow once we finish doing our things."

The 2 didn't notice that there was someone spying on them on the other side of the door. The silent silhouette grunted to itself before it turned around and walked away to a room, frowning its head as it recalled Fox's narration.

"I'd like so," Chris said interested before he yawned loudly. "Well...thanks for giving me company for tonight, Fox... I'm looking forward for the rest of your story..."

Fox nodded at him. "It's going to get interesting, I promise."

"I know it will... Well..good night...Fox..." Chris muttered with a sigh as he fell asleep on the soft pillow, smiling a bit.

Fox stared at Chris to make sure he was sleeping deeply. Seeing that Chris was sleeping deeply, the vulpine grinned to himself and took out the fairy tales' book from his back as he laid down his head back on his pillow, his eyes now focused in the book's pages while the light from the window made the words visible for his eyes.

In truth, there was another reason why Fox wanted to share rooms with Chris...

"Too bad I didn't tell you my true reason, Chris," Fox muttered as his eyes were dragged by the sentences of the book. "I didn't want Samus to find out I had this book. Also, your room has windows with light, perfect enough for me to read my book in peace..."

3 hours later...

Midnight had already come by the time Fox got to the 67th page of the book. His attention was fixated only in his book as he muttered words with a small smile to himself. "The captain of the spaceship Melader met himself with a hard decision as his enemies began to shoot lasers at his ship without mercy, alarming everyone on board. He knew he loved his true love more than anyone else, but he couldn't refuse to let his crew die in the battle they were all in and just let his true love escape alive through the only escape pod they unfortunately had. He could have escaped to use the pod, but he wasn't a coward. After thinking so much, the captain knew what was best to do: fight back their enemies until the end even if there were slim chances to escape or win the fight to save his crew...for his true love was also part of the brave crew of the spaceship Melader..."

Fox grinned at this before he closed the book, yawning loudly as he kept it underneath his pillow before he looked over at the sleeping Chris while laying down his head on the stuffed cotton.

"Man, that was a good memory from my childhood..." Fox muttered as he looked at Chris. "This book was one of the many reasons I wanted to become a member of my father's team..."

"..." Chris didn't respond.

Fox smiled at him. "I know you're not listening, but it's better than nothing," he said before yawning one more time. "Ugh, I shouldn't have read too much of it, though..." He closed his eyes. "Oh well, I'll read more of it next time..."

The vulpine suddenly fell asleep as the moonlight shone on him.

However, Fox didn't know he was going to start reviving memories from his past through the same book he liked so much...

Dream

Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia

In a private dream, clouds made rain that fell down upon an abandoned playground of some city with tall skyscrapers and buildings. The playground itself didn't have anyone there to play around the slides or swings spread across the area. The rain was so heavy that normal sight barely made out whatever was far away from the rain. Trees, benches, and trashcans surrounded the playground as a lone figure was leaning against a tree as he looked up sadly to the rain.

The solitary figure turned out to be a young vulpine of around 7 years. The little boy wore a green shirt, red shorts, and white sneakers. The little boy was a young Fox McCloud who seemed depressed as he stared up to the rain that didn't reach him that much because he was underneath the tree's branches.

Some sniffs came from Fox as he looked down with a frown. "...When is he going to come and get me?" he asked, his voice sounding more childish. "...He promised he wasn't going to come for me late again..." he muttered, his green eyes half-closing. "...What happened to him?" he asked to himself.

The young vulpine looked around to see if there was somebody else in the playground. The only person he found was himself, though.

"Seriously, where is he?" Fox asked depressed as he looked down at the very shallow pools of water that reflected his sad look. "I-I'm afraid of going back home by my own... W-what if I end up getting lost?" he asked frightened. "...Where are you...dad?"

Fox looked up to the rain.

"...I need you here..." he muttered, the rain sounding everywhere around him.

Music stops

Inn

"..." Fox slowly opened his eyes, seeing sunlight shining down on him.

The vulpine looked at the other side where Chris was still sleeping. Fox looked depressed for a moment before he slowly sat up, resting his right arm on his right knee while he stared forward to the wall.

"What...was that dream?" Fox muttered to himself. "I remember finding myself in some sort of playground while it was raining..."

The leader of Star Fox looked at the sleeping Chris. Fox looked disappointed of himself as he frowned.

"And I was wondering where my father was..." Fox muttered saddened. "...At least you know your parents are alive, Chris... Me..." Fox looked down at his feet. "...I just don't know what really happened to my father..."

Fox never had felt before like now. He always thought that James was dead, but he never found out all those images of his father that usually came out to give him words of encouragement. Nothing really didn't make sense to him. Only thinking about his dad made him feel very depressed.

"...Who cares..." Fox muttered before looking serious. "It's his fault for hiding away from me if he's still alive..." He said before he sat on the right side of his bed, looking at the floor to see if there enough space for him to do something. "If he's alive, I don't get why he needs to be secluded and run away. If my mind is playing tricks with me, then it'd better stop before I become insane."

The vulpine grunted annoyed before he laid down on the mattress of the floor where he began to do 50 push-ups as his every day morning routine.

"...Idiot..." Fox muttered as he glared down at floor while doing push-ups, Chris still sleeping deeply.

Unbestknown for the leader of Star Fox, he didn't see that, from the doorknob of the room, an eye spied silently on him as it blinked a few times before looking happy. "(Just look at him...)" some mind thought pleased. "(He's just so dreamy and...so cool...)"

"Peppita?"

"U-uah!" a yelp came from behind the door.

Fox suddenly lost his focus and fell down on the floor with a grunt. After hearing the yelp from behind the door, he wasn't exactly in a good mood as he glared at the door. "Hey, who's there?" Fox demanded before he quickly stood up and walked to the door to find out who was looking at him.

Upon opening the door, he met the empty hallway of the second floor of the inn. The vulpine looked confused as he glanced at both ways of the long hallway to see if there was someone. Shrugging after not seeing anybody, Fox frowned and closed the door silently before returning to his routine on the floor.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Gaiety Company

If he could have looked further to the right side where the hallway turned to the left, 2 figures were leaning against the wall going downstairs. The 2 figures were Peppita and Mirage who had run all the way so they wouldn't be spotted by the depressed Fox. Peppita, after looking back at the hallway with all the other doors, sighed in relief before looking at Mirage. "Mirage, what do you think you're doing appearing out of nowhere like that? You scared the living heck out of me!"

Mirage looked down at Peppita and chuckled. "If I remember, you shouldn't be eavesdropping on others during the morning."

"W-well, that's because I couldn't hold myself to do it..." Peppita admitted embarrassed. "Y-you see, I woke up early and I wanted to say Fox good morning..."

"...Is that so?"

"..." Peppita knew Mirage wasn't easy to fool. "...No..." she said depressed.

"I thought so," Mirage said a little bit a amused. "You looked so fixated on Fox back there."

Peppita flushed a bit and looked at Mirage. "W-well, y-yeah, he kind of makes me feel so excited and happy when I'm around him...and..." The Velbaysian looked down before looking up at Mirage. "...Mirage...are you good keeping secrets?"

"That depends," Mirage said as she rubbed her chin. "What kind of secret do you want to tell me?"

Peppita shifted her eyes for a bit before coughing. "It's about Fox...you see... I'd like to say this to somebody else I can trust so I can feel fine with myself..." Peppita explained. "...Will you listen and keep it a secret between us?"

Mirage nodded. "Don't worry; I won't tell anyone else about that secret of yours."

The Velbaysian smiled happily at Mirage. "Okay, here's the thing..." Peppita looked around. "...Truth is...I-I-I'm...kind of...attracted...t-t-t-t-to..." Her lips twitched in excitement. She tried her best not to shout. "...I-I'm kind of attracted to to...F-F-Fox..." She blinked. "...There, I said it!" she said happily. "Mirage, I'm glad to be telling you this: I...I...I like Fox very much!"

The Klausian kept her smile, but she looked a little bit surprised as Peppita began to giggle uncontrollably.

"T-truth is, he's so cool and so handsome," Peppita said giggling. "That handsome face he has, it makes me feel so excited. That dreamy built he has, it makes me blush a lot. That manly voice he has, it makes me giggle mentally. Just thinking of him makes me feel very happy!" she said cheerfully as she spun slowly a few times on her spot, her bangles swinging themselves in the air before she stopped with folded arms behind her back. "I can't hold this any longer, Mirage, but I...I think I'm in love with Fox!"

Mirage kept her normal look at the happy Peppita before she spoke. "I-I see you like him a lot, Peppita. But, don't you think he's a little bit too old for you?"

Peppita tilted her head. "I don't see what's wrong with our difference in ages," she said before giggling. "Even if he's old, he looks admirably young to make me squeal like I've never done before!"

"Well, I have to remark he looks younger than he looks," Mirage remarked. "However, I have to be the voice of reason here and tell you tha-"

"Are you going to say we're the perfect couple?" Peppita asked in excitement.

It was either tell Peppita the truth and crush her wishes or go along with her so she could see the truth by understanding it slowly by herself. Mirage wouldn't like to see Peppita depressed. She would rather see the Velbaysian happy all the time.

"...I guess," Mirage said with a nod, making Peppita hum happily to herself as she spun a few more times on her spot.

"Okie-dokie!" Peppita said with a giggle before stopping. "So, do you think you can help me so he falls in love with me?"

Mirage NOW wanted to say no after hearing the offer, but Peppita was way too cheerful for her dismay.

"...Why not?" Mirage responded, making the smallest hint of nervousness in her smile.

Peppita joined her hands together. "Oh, thanks a lot, Mirage! I've never felt so happy  before in my life until now! Really, you don't know how excited I am!" she said cheerfully. "Can you give me some advice to see how can I do what I want to do with him?"

"W-well..." Mirage's smile twitched a bit as she looked away. "I-I only know a very small amount of ideas to make someone fall in love with someone else..."

"Oh, please, you gotta help me out with this!" Peppita said worried as she moved up and down her joined hands. "It's the first time I ever fell in love with someone else and I want to succeed. Fox is..." She blushed. "...Fox is so..."

"O-okay, I get it now," Mirage said with some nods. "I understand you love Fox very much, but I don't know if I have the best advices for you..."

An idea came to the Klausian.

"Why don't you tell Sophia?" Mirage asked as she raised a finger. "I bet she knows a lot more of romance than anyone else here. Maria could help you, but you already saw her yesterday."

Mirage knew it was a little bad of her for putting all the work to Sophia. The Klausian knew very well she didn't have the best tips for romance, but she didn't have another option. Besides, it could ruin her calm demeanor around everyone if Peppita decided to resort for her help constantly.

"...Of course!" Peppita said. "Sophia surely is more professional at this kind of stuff. Me, I'm just...stick in the mud..." she said with a giggle. "Well, Mirage, thank you for giving me that suggestion! I'm gonna go get Sophia so she knows how much I want to do this!" the Velbaysian said happily before she happily hummed to herself, walking downstairs as she left Mirage behind.

Once Peppita was out of sight, Mirage sighed and wiped sweat from her forehead. "Phew, that was close..." she muttered to herself. "I hope Sophia doesn't mind..."

The Klausian decided to walk away to her room for the time being.

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bird's Eye View

Some time passed after the morning came. A small group of the Smashers decided that it was a good idea to look after the Spagonia Temple in Elicoor II with some of Fayt's friends. That group consisted of Fox, Tails, Wolf, Chris, Sonic, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Peppita, Roger, and a skeptical Maria. The others decided to inspect the southern road with Mirage.

The reason behind why Mirage was chosen to show Samus, C. Falcon, Pit, and Roy all alone by herself was because, for some reason or another, Roger decided to tag along with Fayt, and Peppita because she seemed oddly fixated on Fox as the Velbaysian was walking close to Sophia.

Before them laid the long northern road to the Sacred City of Aquios. A road of bricks directed all the way across the long field of hills and trees that adorned the environment. The grassfields around the area were almost empty with some hills and trees making shades.

Overall, the field looked peaceful enough for them.

"Okay," Maria began as she crossed her arms. "It's time for you to tell us where the group you're looking for is."

Fox looked at her. "Geez, why don't you sound a little bit more friendly for a change?"

"Yeah, why don't you do that?" Peppita asked, receiving an odd look from Fox.

"I'm going to act friendly once my doubts are cleared," Maria explained as everyone looked at her. "You didn't think I'd forget what we talked about yesterday, right?"

"Knowing you, who wouldn't..." Wolf muttered.

"So," Maria continued, "I've made up my mind to see what you're after. Since you want us to help you we would be gaining something valuable from each other, right?"

"I guess..." Tails said. "Just...don't act that rude, please..."

"My bad," Maria said, Tails not believing her small apology. "If you want me to stop being rude, then why don't you just reveal your real intentions?"

"(I don't know if we should tell her everything we know...)" Chris thought worried.

"Pfft," Sonic (now back to his normal self) began as he rolled his eyes. "Who wants to listen to someone so blunt like you, anyway?"

"What was that?" Maria asked as she looked down at Sonic. "I forgot that you're the same hedgehog who insulted my name yesterday."

Sonic looked confused at her. "Wait, I insulted your name? I barely know your name!"

Some of the Smashers sighed at Sonic's cluelessness.

"Well, if you forgot my name, it's Maria Traydor," Maria said.

Maria's eyes widened after he heard a very silent chuckle from the grinning hedgehog. The others around him looked at him angrily before they all frowned.

"...Let's get on with this, okay?" Maria said annoyed. "I want to finish this little favor Fayt accepted to make for all of you. Be glad I'm going to allow you to rely on my help."

Fayt looked at her. "Maria..."

"...Okay, I guess I was acting rude again," Maria admitted. "So, what do we have to do here?"

"Look for the group we're looking for?" Chip asked.

"I'd like to hear where the heck we're going," Wolf said. "After all, we "lost" that group when we got here, right?"

Maria sighed. "Well, before we even get started with this task, you wouldn't mind if I analyze you to see how strong you are, right?"

"What?" Sonic asked.

"You wouldn't want to go against the Executioners, unprepared," Maria explained as she took out a circle-shaped device from her right pocket. "It's always necessary to be prepared to fight battles..."

"Good thing we already came equipped, then."

The group watched as the device produced a vertical green line that circled around to touch everyone. The Smashers watched as the light stopped, analyzing their status.

"A-amazing, the technology you possess just keeps making me so interested!" Tails said surprised.

"And you haven't seen this before?" Maria asked.

Tails gasped mentally. "Y-yeah, but yours happen to be even newer to me, that's all..."

The leader of Quark narrowed her eye

[DededeCloneChris]

The leader of Quark narrowed her eyes for a moment. "Examination complete," Maria said before looking down at her machine. "Now, the results are..."

Silence...

"..." Maria blinked a few times at the device. "Are you...this weak?"

"What?" Wolf asked with a glare. "What was that supposed to mean?"

Maria frowned. "I mean to say your status isn't basically the best around... According to my analyzer, your base strength is way too low that barely reaches 170. The average of your defense is around 90, and intelligence to use Symbology is very low as well," she explained. "With that in mind, how do you think you're going to survive against the Executioners?"

Fox crossed his arms. "Care to explain to us how can we get stronger?"

"It's not bad to know, I guess," Maria said. "Truthfully, compared to us, you're pretty much in danger of being annihilated by the Executioners. I expected you weren't that strong as well."

"The point, girl, get to the point," Wolf said.

"Okay," Maria said. "If you want to deal a good amount of damage to them, your base strength should be around 1200, and to resist their attacks you need to have a base strength of 900."

The numbers were practically big for all the Smashers. They all looked at each other. Maybe Maria could give them a throughout explanation of how to become stronger?

"Hmm..." Sonic rubbed his chin. "I'd like to know a little bit more..."

"Like?" Maria asked.

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Hey, tell me how strong I am. I wanna see what the limit is for all of us."

For once, the hedgehog had some reason in his words.

Maria began to click some buttons on her device. "Well, according to this, your base strength is of 400, your defense isn't that good because it has 50, and you can't even use Symbology," she said.

"(400?)" Chris thought. "(It could be that high because of the sticker...)"

Sonic nodded. "So, is that good enough?"

"Frankly speaking, you're technically in trouble," Maria said. "I can tell you that out of everyone in your group, you're the one that has the most strength in physical attacks. I'm actually quite impressed...a little bit."

Sonic grinned as Wolf grunted. "You mean to say this speedy freak is the most powerful person of our group?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah," Maria said. "You wouldn't survive the enemies in this area. You need some good equipment if you want to be stronger."

"Oh, hey, then what are the limits for ours stats?" Sonic asked.

"Very simple, yet so hard to achieve," Maria began. "Your base strength can reach over the 9999, and that also includes your defense and other attributes. We ourselves haven't reached that high yet, but through Item Creation and refining our weapons will make us take more steps for improvement. Once someone reaches that high, your enemies won't even hurt you at all."

"That's...impressive," Fox remarked.

"Yeah, so impressive, isn't?" Peppita asked.

"I...guess?" Fox said confused as Peppita giggled.

Maria looked at Sonic. "I can tell you that your speed is insanely high," she said, making Sonic grin at her. "Your base speed reaches 5000 easily."

"Watch me," Sonic said before he disappeared out of sight. Fayt, Sophia, Roger, Peppita, and even Maria got surprised at this before the hedgehog was seen standing behind all of them. "Did you see me, or were your eyes slow?" Sonic asked.

"Dude..." Roger began before he wiped his nose. "That had to be the most awesome thing I've ever seen before! Cool!"

"(Weren't you suspecting of them before, Roger?)" Fayt asked.

"I...have to say your speed is impressive," Maria said. "Enemies wouldn't have a good time to land a hit on you unless you screw up."

"Nobody can't catch me," Sonic said as he crossed his arms proudly. "That's the law."

The World Traveler got in a thinking position. "...So, you're saying we can reach that high?"

"Yes," Maria said. "The way to get all that power is going to be hard, though. It's really hard for someone to have the perfect status. Maybe if you find or buy the most expensive weapons and armors, you'll eventually become a fighting machine."

Fox looked up to the sky. "Work hard to become even stronger, huh..."

Peppita pumped up her fists. "C'mon, everyone, time to get strong!"

Fayt looked at the Smashers. "If you want, we can lend you some weapons and armor so you can stand up against the Executioners. We're short of them so you're going to be using them as you stay with us."

"That'd be nice," Fox said. "I want to go prepared."

"I'm sure you're gonna be the strongest one out of your group, Fox," Peppita said with a giggle.

"Thanks..." Fox said, giving her a confused grin that made the Velbaysian chuckle.

"(We're limited to buy from Master Hand and the shop at the village of the Black Mages...)" Chris thought. "(But we don't necessarily gather big amounts of money so easily...)"

Roger yawned a bit before he removed his helmet, revealing his brown pointy ears at the sides of his head. On top of his messed up hair, the World Traveler watched as 2 golden ladybugs flew around the Menodix.

"...Wait just a minute..." Chris muttered as he watched the golden bugs flying around Roger. "...Those bugs...those bugs...those bugs are the same bugs Agitha asked me to find..."

Roger looked at him as he had his helmet under his right arm. "Huh, did you say something?"

Chris's eyes were focusing on the bugs that flew around Roger. "...Roger, are those bugs yours?"

Roger grinned at him. "Oh, so I see you got interested in my special golden bugs I found 4 days ago at Surferio," he said. "Well, it's not like me to be collectin' 'em, but they looked pretty rare so I said why not have them around me?"

"R-Roger, I need to tell you something about the bugs..."

Roger raised an eyebrow. "Ooh, what would that be?"

"Y-you see..." Chris tried his best to convince Roger to give him the bugs. "I'm secretly gathering those golden bugs as part of a request a friend told me to do..."

"..." Roger stared at him. "...And?"

"A-and could you...um...please...give me the bugs?"

The Menodix looked bored at Chris. "...Hey, I just found these bugs some days ago and you're already asking me to hand them over to you?"

"P-please, it's really important," Chris said. "I really need to have them with me so my friend doesn't get preoccupied. You see, she likes to gather golden bugs that she asked me to find them out for her so she could find them all faster..."

"..." Roger crossed his arms, letting his helmet fall down on the grass while the bugs circled around his head, making tingling sounds that echoed. "...Hmm, I dunno if I should just give 'em to yah that easily..."

"..." The dragoon sighed. "Fine, I'm going to wait until you decide... It's not like I'm rushing you, anyway..."

The Menodix watched as Chris walked away from him. Roger looked at his circling golden bugs flying around his head before his eyes looked at them.

"Well," Fayt began. "We wouldn't mind giving you some of our equipment."

"We're just lending you our equipment," Maria said. "We need them back after you finish with your little hunt, okay?"

"We understand," Fox said.

"As for you..." Maria trailed off as she looked down at Fox's Blaster. "...I guess you wouldn't mind if I give you my weapons..."

Fox raised an eyebrow at this.

"Wait right there," Wolf began as he walked to Maria. "If we do equip armor, I don't want to look like some sort of medieval soldier."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Sophia said. "It doesn't look like it, but we're wearing armors right now."

"Technology has made great feats," Maria said. "Once you equip armors, I'll use a special device that can make armor invisible so you can fight like you always do without having to worry about carrying extra weight."

"I see..." Sonic said. "Well, I'm in."

Some minutes later...

After Fayt's group lent weapons and armors to the Smashers, the traveling group looked at themselves amazed. After they equipped their armors, Maria used a special scanner that analyzed the armors in order to make them disappear, their protective effects still there.

"Wow..." Sonic began as he looked at himself, staring at some brass knuckles that he equipped on his hands. "Suddenly, my body turned thick or something..."

Wolf, wearing the same kind of brass knuckles as Sonic, looked at his claw after he equipped himself with a new phase gun that Maria had given to him. "Freaky," Wolf commented as he moved his nails a bit. "The weapon itself made everything in me stronger..."

Chris looked at his brand new spear. Fayt looked at him and smiled a bit. "You were lucky that we had a special spear weapon for you to use," Fayt said.

"This is...so surprising..." Chris muttered.

Fox looked at his new phase gun. Something about the weapon made him get even stronger that before. The weapon's effects far surpassed the power of the stickers he had equipped. "So this is how you get so strong..." Fox muttered before he put his phase gun in his holster.

"Weapons sometimes affect physical prowess," Maria explained. "They'll certainly help you fight the Executioners and resist their deadly attacks now that your strength is 1600 and defense is 1000, quite the big enhancements, right?"

"...Yeah..." Fox said with a grin as he crossed his arms. "I never felt this big surge of power before."

Wolf looked behind him where a big boulder, 3 times bigger than him, silently stood. The lupine looked at his right claw before he slammed it against the rock; a big crack that appeared on it that quickly spread all over the boulder before it broke into crumbles that fell around. Chris, Sonic, Tails, and Chip looked shocked after the display of power from Wolf as he looked at his claw and smirked.

"Screw our normal means to get stronger," Wolf muttered as he flexed his claw a bit. "This stuff is even better than that."

The World Traveler thought something. "(What if we can get this strong by normal means through the use of stickers? Master Hand said we could, didn't he?)"

Peppita walked to Fox and giggled. "So, are you surprised now?"

"You bet I am," Fox said. "I never felt so powerful in my life before."

"That's Item Creation for you," Peppita said with a chuckle.

The vulpine didn't know why, but Peppita seemed more talkative to him ever since the morning started...

Fayt turned around to the north where he found 2 figured walking towards them. The blue-haired teen blinked a few times as he identified the 2 persons coming from Aquios. "Hey, aren't they them?"

"Hmm?" Sophia looked forward. "...Oh, right, there they are!"

The Smashers looked at each other confused. Chip flew up to see the people that were coming from the north. "Who are those 2 guys?" he asked.

From the north, a man and woman came walking down the brick road.

The blond-haired man, that was 36 years old and stood 6'2", was a muscular adult that wore a black vest, black pants, black boots, and black brass knuckles on his fists. The man had a small tattoo on his neck that looked like a scar at first glance.

The red-haired woman besides him, that was 23 years old and stood 5'7", looked like she lived in the planet due to the fact she wore antique female spy clothing (also wearing pale-yellow belts on her torso, and long black heels above her black boots) with a long blue-and-black scarf that hung around her throat. The young woman also had several rune marks on her wrists.

"Heeeeeeeeeey!" Peppita said as she waved her hands to the incoming newcomers. "We're here, you 2!"

Tails tilted his head. "Um, who are those 2? Do you know them?"

Nobody responded him as the 2 characters stopped walking in front of them. The man put a hand on his right pocket while the woman crossed her arms.

"Well, we're here," the man said. "Took our sweet time in Aquios. The city's as calm as ever."

"Yeah," the woman said with a nod. "No Executioners attacked it as we thought they would."

"Phew, I'm glad..." Sophia said with a sigh. "Now we just need Albel and Adray to come back from Airyglyph and then we'll be together again."

The man looked at the new members of Fayt's group. "Er, Fayt...did you recruit people while we were away?"

"Oh," Fayt began. "Pardon for not advising you both before but yesterday these guys came to us while we were refining our equipment."

The woman looked at them. Unlike most of Fayt's group, she didn't exactly find any of them weird since she was native of the planet they were all in. She have seen a lot of mysterious happenings that she didn't care what else was new to her. "I see. I suppose they're helpful to us in some way or another, right?"

"Possibly," Maria said.

"Well then," the man began. "Let's start off good so you meet us, okay?" He crossed his arms. "Glad to meet new people here. I'm Cliff Fittir."

Cliff Fittir is a Klausian from Klaus III. A member of the anti-Federation organization Quark, which was founded by Klausians, Cliff rescued Fayt for an unknown reason. Although he relinquished the post to Maria, Cliff used to be the leader of the anti-Federation organization, Quark, and is also the organization's founder. Considering that he organized Quark, Cliff must be quite intelligent and charismatic, but at first glance, he only looks like a thug.

"I guess it's my turn," the woman said with a chuckle. "Very well, then. My name is Nel Zelpher."

Nel Zelpher is a runologist (a special spy that can use Runology, another name for Symbology in Elicoor II) working for the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria who has previously infiltrated the Kingdom of Airyglyph in order to gather information as a spy during the war of both kingdoms. Having learned of the importance of the peculiar technology owned by Fayt, she felt that Fayt is the person prophesied in ancient Aquarian texts, and decided to make contact with him regardless of any danger this might entail. Ever since she met Fayt and the others, Nel was asked by the queen to help them all to save the universe from the attack of the Executioners.

"This is all so sudden, you know," Nel said as she looked at the group. "I didn't know we needed more people in our group."

"Yeah," Cliff said. "Is there a reason why you invited this...peculiar group, Fayt?"

Maria frowned. "I'm pretty sure they're going to tell you the same story they already to us all."

"What do you know, I was just going to say that," Fox said bored.

Some minutes with introductions and explanations later...

Cliff rubbed his chin. "So you guys are looking for a group you've been chasing 'round the universe while the Executioners are afoot," he said. "Man, who the hell thinks about doing their business in the middle of a universal crisis, huh?"

"The group we're chasing?" Chip said.

Nel shook her head. "It was everything very normal until Fayt and Cliff crash landed in here. From that point onwards, everything started to turn out so weird for us."

Fayt rolled his eyes. "Hey, the events went like that, okay? At least we know each other."

"True," Nel said. "I have to say it's a little bit pleasing."

"Ahem," Maria coughed. "If everyone forgot, we're on a small recognition mission to find the certain mysterious group these guys are hunting down."

"Oh, right," Sophia said. "Nel, Cliff, would you mind if you lend us a hand with this?"

"Do you have to ask?" Cliff asked. "I'm up for some fighting."

"I may not have the same ideas as Cliff, but I wouldn't mind," Nel said. "It's been a little bit boring without doing any fighting." She looked around. "We should be careful. Those Executioners may show up in a few."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "I've been hearing the word Executioners a lot of times yet I haven't see what the heck they are. Is somebody here willing to give me a good example of how they look like exactly?"

Cliff pointed behind him with his right thumb. "Why bother? We already have 3 right behind us."

"...What?" Roger asked.

Behind Cliff and Nel, 3 angels slowly floated towards them. The angels were actually robots that wore long white robes, sets of 4 angelic wings, and metal faces that looked up to the sky. The robotic angels looked harmless for the Smashers, but they looked dangerous for Fayt's group.

"Sheesh, more of those Proclaimers..." Roger muttered. "They just won't stop multiplying."

"Don't say that bizarre fact..." Sophia said worried.

"Proclaimers?" Chip asked. "Weren't they called Execusomething?"

"Well, they're the same, but they're called Proclaimers," Nel said. "They disguise themselves as angels so they look angelic, but that's just a facade for their real nature."

"...So...we like...fight those angels?" Tails asked, hiding behind Sonic.

Chip chuckled. "Why feel scared? They're Pit's long lost cousins. They're surely gonna be nice to us."

Chris looked worried. "I-I don't think they're Pit's long lost cousins..."

The party looked at the angels slowly flapping their wings. "Protraste thyself..." they all said in unison with a monotone voice.

Sonic looked at the others. "What was that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"I think it means to announce..." Sophia said. "They're basically like messengers..."

"And...what are they trying to say with that?" Fox asked.

"With that, they mean they're here to deliver...death...to all of us..." Cliff said.

"..." Everyone looked at each other.

It was not long before the party got ambushed by 2 more angels that came from all directions. They all quickly looked around as some of them took fighting stances.

"It's an ambush!" Maria yelled as she took out her phase gun.

"Gimme a break..." Cliff said with a sigh.

"What a dirty trick," Nel said as she took out some daggers from her belt. "They just can't stop ambushing all of us, huh?"

"What, do they do this every time?" Tails asked as he stood behind a grinning Sonic.

"You wouldn't believe all the times they ambush people," Fayt said as he held a long sword at the right side of his belt with both hands.

Roger grinned as he called back his golden bugs on his hair to put his helmet back on and took out a small axe from his back that he playfully spun on his right side. "Can we just fight these guys?"

"Okay, everyone, attack!"

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Cutting Edge of Notion

"Separate and pick your own targets so they go down faster!" Fayt ordered as she rushed forward to the frontal line of Proclaimers, everyone else quickly separating to strike every enemy (while Tails dragged Chip away from the fight to the safest place in the whole planet: a tree on a small hill to the west).

"I'll use magic!" Sophia said as she took out a rod with a red crystal on its tip before she formed a blue sphere in front of her.

Noticing this, Fox stopped on his tracks and stared at the sphere growing a little bit as Sophia focused. The vulpine looked a little bit interested in the Symbology magic the young teen was using.

"Thunder Flare!" Sophia called out forth a big sphere of sparks that appeared between 2 of the 7 Proclaimers, zapping all of them constantly as they were getting staggered by the circling sparks.

"What was that you just used?" Fox asked, not noticing that Peppita was very close to him.

"Oh, Symbology?" Sophia asked. "Weird, I thought you knew what Symbology was."

"E-er..." Fox looked away. "I-I haven't seen much of it these last years so...yeah..."

"...Well, if you forgot, Symbology is the magic that everyone uses," Sophia explained. "Many people out there can possess Symbology, and maybe even you can do it."

"Not exactly..." Fox admitted. "Magic isn't my strongest asset."

"Really?" Sophia asked. "Well, if that's so, why don't you train it? I'm sure you can master it very soon."

"I've been trying to, but it's always the same result," Fox explained. "It's either nothing or me getting on fire."

"..." Sophia felt a little bit of sympathy. "That's...not good..."

"Well," Peppita began, startling Fox a little bit. "Fighting beats practice every time, so go train, Fox! I know you can do it!"

"...Thanks?" Fox responded at the cheerful girl.

Peppita gasped and pointed behind Sophia. "Sophia, behind you!"

"Wha-AAH!" Sophia yelled in pain after a Proclaimer appeared behind her instantly before sending forward an X-slash after it crossed its hands in front of it. The teen was pushed to the air where she flipped and landed on her feet, closing her right eye in pain.

"Hey, how did that thing appear behind her?" Fox asked as he glared at the angel.

"They hack their speed," Peppita explained. "They can teleport instantly to any side so you gotta be careful!"

Fox cracked his fists. "Well, I'm not letting one of them sneak behind me," he said before he dashed towards the Proclaimer, passing an angry Sophia as she focused more Symbology.

Peppita giggled. "And I'm not letting them lay a finger on you," she muttered before she began to spin her right bangle behind her. "Magic Hook!" she yelled loudly.

The vulpine suddenly saw Peppita's bangle extending all the way to the Proclaimer where it struck it hard, somehow getting stuck on it before the Velbaysian got pulled all the way to the angel where she accidentally used a strong headbutt that pushed the Proclaimer away. Fox watched confused as Peppita fell down on the grass, dazzled.

The vulpine looked around before he went to see her by kneeling down. "Hey, Peppita, are you okay?"

"I dunno, am I okay?" Peppita asked dazzled. "I'm pretty sure I was okay a long time ago..."

Fox shook her a bit. "C'mon, stand up. We're in the middle of a fight."

Peppita quickly pushed herself up to stand up, giggling a little bit at Fox. "W-well, thanks for worrying about me, Fox."

"Okay..." Fox stood up. "Just...don't use that attack again..."

"Oh, don't you worry," Peppita said. "That's how my attack works, anyway."

"That's a little bit suicidal, you knew that?"

"So what? It's very effective," Peppita said.

Fox thought Peppita was insane for a moment.

"Hey, you guys!" Sophia yelled. "It's coming back!"

The 2 quickly looked to the west where the Proclaimer calmly floated towards them. Fox instantly took a fighting stance while Peppita did the same...except very close to him.

"Don't you think we make a pretty good team?" Peppita suddenly asked.

"...We just barely worked together..." Fox pointed out.

Peppita blushed. "O-o-oh, okay, sorry..."

As the 3 fought their own enemy, chaos ensued across the green fields of Irisa as the rest of the group fought against the Proclaimers. Knowing that attacking them 1 at a time was going to take an eternity, Fayt came up with a strategy.

"Make up teams and coordinate attacks together!" Fayt yelled. "Don't let them attack back!"

"W-what did he mean by that?" Chris in a panic as 2 Proclaimers surrounded him from both sides, the dragoon holding his spear in fear. "H-help!"

Suddenly, behind the Proclaimer that came from the right, Nel snuck from behind and slashed the robotic enemy hard enough to make it go to the air. While it was in the air, Wolf came from another side, used Wolf Flash to appear on the angel to use a Meteor Smash effect with his claw on the angel to plummet it down to the ground, where Sonic came fast from the south, grabbed the angel, and crashed its head down hard on the ground.

The dragoon blinked surprised at this sudden display of strategy before he heard something from behind.

"Prostrate thyself."

Suddenly, 4 towers of light circled around the Proclaimer that he didn't see. The towers of light dealt 4 heavy hits on Chris as he was pushed away to the ground where he fell, grunting in pain as the Proclaimer stood in front of him, the towers having disappeared.

Seeing that the dragoon didn't retaliate, Wolf frowned and charged at it while the other one he left behind got pulled off the ground by Sonic. "Tsk, what do I have to do this for you?" Wolf asked annoyed as he crossed his open claws in front of him.

However, once he did that move, something within him awoke.

"What is this...felling?" Wolf asked to himself. Wolf watched as his claws suddenly began to glow with dark energy, completing covering themselves with a pitch-black color as purple outlines covered the sides of it. The lupine didn't exactly think that he could do that, but he shook the thought away as he charged at the Proclaimer. "Whatever, I'm using this either way."

The dragoon looked up from his spot to see the lupine charging at him. Chris gasped and covered his head with his hands before Wolf leaped over him to reach the angel.

"(Let's see if this works...)" Wolf thought as he reached the Proclaimer. "Hand of Doom!"

Suddenly, the lupine found himself quickly slashing the Proclaimer severely by constantly doing horizontal slashes (a total of 6) that left trails of his claws' glowing tips. His claws also ripped the robot's clothing a bit before Wolf finished the attack by pushing it away. He stopped while the angel tried to regain its composure to look at his claws, now turning back to normal.

Hand of Doom

Slashes foes with 6 hits. This attack is fast enough to stun foes somewhat enough for the user to attack.

"...I have to admit this attack was useful..." Wolf muttered before chuckling. "Wonder if I can link this together with my other attacks...UOH!"

The lupine didn't see the Proclaimer sending forward an X-slash shockwave in the air that pushed him away. As Wolf flipped in the air to regain his control, a stubborn Menodix stood in front of Chris.

"This guy is gonna go down now," Roger said before he tossed his helmet high above him, pointing his axe to it as it glowed and shot a light that struck the spinning helmet. "Raging Helmet!"

Once the light struck the helmet, a shower of lights began to rain down upon the Proclaimer. The robotic angel got severely injured by this attack that it couldn't attack back.

Chris took this opportunity to get up and dash at the angel. "I just can't let this thing beat me like that again..." He prepared his spear. "Lancet!" The images of roaring dragons flew around him before Chris swiftly stabbed the angel, dealing a considerable amount of damage as it also drained a little bit of energy.

And thus the first Proclaimer was taken down as it vanished. "Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh..." it said silently before vanishing in thin air.

The dragoon sighed in relief as the Menodix walked to him. "Seems you're a natural fighter," Roger said. "Of course I did most of the work here."

Chris looked down annoyed at him. "H-hey, at least I did the finishing attack here. So, have you considered abou-"

"It's way too early to be asking that!" Roger complained. "Also, we've got a fight!"

Behind them, the second Proclaimer summoned forth towers of light that dealt heavy hits on both Nel and Sonic. The 2 stumbled back as they grunted in pain before Cliff came in. "Freeze, you maggot!" he yelled before he jumped in the air, holding a glowing sphere between his hands that he slammed down underneath the Proclaimer that caused a big invisible explosion of air that made the angel get to the air. "Hammer of Might!" Cliff yelled as he landed on the ground.

"Right there!" Maria was heard yelling as she rushed at the angel and shot several glowing shots that struck it hard. As she got closer, she quickly kicked the Proclaimer by sending a big wave of energy. "Crescent Locus!" she yelled, pushing the angel to the air before she swiftly shot from her phase gun a sphere of darkness that slowly went forward. "Gravity Bullet!"

The sphere forced the angel to tremble in pain as it dealt a big amount of hits. As Maria glared at its enemy, she began to issue strategies. "Nel, I wouldn't mind if you help me here!"

By that time, the Elicoorian was already holding out a blue sphere to cast Symbology. "You don't have to tell me even once," she said. "Earth Grave!"

In front of Nel, big stalagmites came from within the ground that pierced through the angel several times before the magic earth vanished in thin air.

Maria aimed her phase gun, seeing the angel immobile in the air. "Well, time t-" She stopped talking once she saw the hedgehog leaping high up to thrust down his feet right on the Proclaimer's face. Due to the power boost, Sonic quickly sent the angel crashing down on the ground where it screamed in pain and vanished slowly, the hedgehog landing on the grass as he wiped his nose a bit with his thumb.

"Check it out," Sonic said as he crossed his arms. "So far, I'm liking this fight."

Maria frowned. "Please don't rest yet until we're done with this fight."

"Oh, please, you need to enjoy the moment," Sonic said. "Can't you do that?"

"I'll only "enjoy" the moment after we're done here," Maria said. "Now, don't slack off. We still have 3 more of them to take care of."

The hedgehog looked annoyed at her before Maria turned around to run to Fayt who was busy fighting a Proclaimer alone. Sonic rolled his eyes and grunted a bit. "Does anyone here enjoy fighting?" he asked.

"Hardly anyone here enjoys fighting," Nel said as he walked to him from behind. "I do know Roger likes to fight a lot...but I also know another person not here who enjoys it very much so he doesn't get bored doing something else."

"Who's that?"

"You...don't want to know," Nel said. "He's currently in Airyglyph with my friend's father doing some recognition. I think they're on their way here."

"Just how many of you are there?"

Nel began to raise fingers. "Well, if you want to know, it's me, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Roger, Peppita, and the other 2. We're 10 in total. How about your group?" She crossed her arms amused.

Sonic grinned at her. "It's me, Chris, the fox dude, the wolf dude, Tails, Chip, some racer guy, the girl in the armor, the angel, and the red-haired dude. We're 10 as well."

The Elicoorian knew well that Sonic didn't bother to say names possibly because he liked to address most of them that way.

"...Can you be a little more specific?" Nel asked.

"How?"

Nel frowned. "Oh, forget what I said..."

Back with Fayt and his enemy...

"Fool," the Proclaimer stated. "I shall carve thy crimes into thy flesh..."

"Oh no, you don't," Fayt said as he watched the Proclaimer calling forth a staff that it summoned as it floated slowly into the air, the staff glowing brightly. The blue-haired teen knew that the Proclaimer was going to struck down the staff to create a saint glyph that would emit green light and cause extreme damage. "Dimension Door!" Fayt yelled as he called forth darkness that covered a big portion of the area that trapped the Proclaimer and forced it to fall down, several incomplete dark circles floating around Fayt before he vanished from sight.

The Proclaimer was stunned due to the attack's effect. Sparks flew out before the blue-haired teen appeared behind it, a huge slash of darkness from behind him that easily ripped the angel in 2 that took it out with a very severe hit. "Uaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh..." the Proclaimer yelled silently as it vanished, Fayt holding out his sword to the side before standing up straight.

Maria didn't make it in time as she stopped in front of Fayt. "You know, sometimes I think you're a little bit "broken" yourself if you know what I mean."

Fayt wiped some sweat. "Geez, was that a compliment?"

She looked behind him. "Behind us!" Maria gasped and quickly pulled Fayt to the ground along with her to evade an X-slash attack from another Proclaimer.

At that very moment, Wolf appeared from behind the angel to grab it hard with a claw and toss it to the air. Once he did that, he used Fire Wolf to strike the Proclaimer hard on its back where he swiftly made his claws glow with dark energy to use Hand of Doom, slashing brutally the Proclaimer as he moved above and kicked it down to make it crash on the ground.

"Fool..." the Proclaimer said as it crossed its hands to damage Wolf while it was laying down on the ground.

The lupine, still in the air as he descended, looked to his right where the leader of Quark rushed at the angel to stop it from executing an attack. "Aiming Device!" Maria yelled as she shot a hard shot to the downed enemy that made the angel jump back to the air. The lupine saw this opportunity to slam down his claws hard on the angel as it plummeted down even harder than before.

Wolf landed back on the ground and glared daggers at the angel. However, he didn't see that Maria was holding behind her a blue sphere that grew a little bit in size before holding it out at Wolf. "Power Up!" she yelled.

The leader of Star Wolf found several circling orange lights that made a sphere on him, his body swelling a bit before he rushed at the Proclaimer, opening his right claw wide as he swiftly stabbed the angel with it. Wolf, looking surprised, watched as he claw literally went through the Proclaimer, instantly killing it while it screamed silently, vanishing in the air.

"Hey, what did you just do to me?" Wolf asked to Maria as she walked to him.

"I thought I'd be nice to increase your power more with a 50 percent of power boost," Maria said. "Enjoy it while it lasts, though. It lasts about a minute."

"...Heh," Wolf grinned at her. "Who would have thought you possessed this special skill?"

"Thanks," Maria said without giving a smile. "But we still have one last Proclaimer over there."

Wolf turned his back around to see from a long distance that Sophia, Peppita, and Fox were dealing with the last Proclaimer from before, the vulpine swiftly evading an X-slash attack from the angel as he hit its side hard with a kick that pushed it down to the ground.

Peppita, several feet away from both of them, began to hop around as she called forth a glyph in the air that made 4 ice daggers. "Frozen Daggers!"

Unfortunately, this attack proved to be a little bit disappointing as it didn't send all the daggers at the same time. Instead, the daggers slowly were sent down upon the robot at a slow pace.

Sophia frowned as she prepared another spell. "(I know Peppita likes to use that attack a lot, but it doesn't do a lot of damage...)" She looked at the vulpine behind the angel. "Well, he wouldn't mind if I use this on him... Angel Feather!" she cast, pointing her staff at Fox.

Fox blinked confused as several angel feathers appeared around him before fading away. Suddenly, he felt that everything in him increased in strength, defense, speed, evasiveness, accuracy, and even intelligence to use magic. The vulpine grinned to himself as he looked serious at the Proclaimer. "This is just turning out all better for me..." Fox muttered before rushing quickly at the Proclaimer.

Peppita stopped dancing around to look at the vulpine. She looked surprised (and probably excited) as Fox swiftly reached the Proclaimer where he used a fast back-flip kick that surprisingly pushed the robotic angel high up into the air; even higher than anyone else. He then proceeded to jump 2 times to reach the enemy to do a series of quintuple kicks that dealt a great amount of damage.

"(Just look at him...)" Peppita thought amazed. "(He's so athletic!)" she thought excited.

Fox's combo didn't end as he performed a drill kick right on the enemy's face before both started to descend faster. However, Fox was able to descend even faster to use a slow back kick that sent the Proclaimer down where it rolled recklessly and laid down on the grass, making some short-circuits as it slowly got back up.

As Fox prepared to attack all by himself, something within him awoke...

"(What is this feeling?)" Fox thought confused before looking down at his feet. "(I wonder...)" he trailed off in mind before he glared at the Proclaimer.

By that time, the others were already rushing to the last enemy, but Fox had everything under control as he reached the Proclaimer that was about to send an X-slash attack with its hands.

"Stop, infidel..." the Proclaimer stated as it crossed its hands.

And it did the attack, sending it straight to the dashing Fox.

Peppita and Sophia gasped. "Fox, no!" Peppita yelled.

The Velbaysian didn't see the confident grin that Fox hid as he suddenly and swiftly jumped besides the incoming to attack to evade it, the vulpine landing at the Proclaimer's left side where he hopped on his spot. Suddenly, his right tanker boot caught yellow energy that sparkled a bit as he struck it hard against the Proclaimer's waist while yelling loudly, "Side Kick!"

Side Kick

One of Fayt's most effective attacks. The user evades any kind of attack almost perfectly and strikes a single foe hard with a side kick.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh..." the Proclaimer yelled silently in pain as they all watched it vanishing in thin air as Fox's right tanker boot glowed with energy before it faded out as he pulled in back behind him, safely landing on the grass as he twisted his neck a bit and grinned with a chuckle, crossing his arms.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Victory Bell

The rest of the group sighed in relief as they all reunited. "Wasn't that easy?" Sophia asked with a chuckle.

"I have to admit everything was easier thanks to the weapons and armors you gave us," Chris said as he looked at his spear. "...Are you sure I can't keep this with me?"

"Sorry," Maria said, "but we'll need our equipment back."

"Oh, bummer..." Chris said with a sigh.

At that moment, Tails and Chip came from behind the tree. "W-wow, everything did go just well, you guys," Tails said surprised. "You looked stronger than before as well, Sonic."

Sonic grinned at him. "What, I haven't been this strong before?"

"W-well..."

"Eh, don't sweat it, kiddo," Cliff said as he crossed his arms. "Thanks to all of you the battle ended much sooner than we expected. You're not half bad if I do say so myself."

"I think we should thank you for providing us with your equipment," Fox said.

Peppita giggled happily. "You looked so cool out there, Fox. The way you defeated that Proclaimer alone looked so impressive!"

"Thanks," Fox said, giving her a small grin. "You're not that bad as well."

Peppita gasped mentally. "(Oh my, he's starting to show some feelings for me. Just look at that grin he's giving to me. What do I do? What do I do?) E-er, thanks, Fox... That was a nice thing to say to me..." She played with her fingers a bit while staring up at him. "M-maybe we could work together in the next fight?"

"I...guess so..." Fox said confused at Peppita's odd attitude. "(Why does she blush every time I look at her? Unless she thinks... Er... Um... No, she wouldn't think that of me. She looks a little bit mature, I guess, but...) Oh, I almost forgot," Fox said as he turned to Maria. "I saw some of you using Symbology."

"Oh, that?" Nel began. "Well, it's oftenly called Runology in this continent, but Fayt's group says it's Symbology from they come from."

"They're the same," Sophia said. "I can use Earth Grave as you do, Nel. Not to mention Maria uses the same buffs as I do."

"You guys don't have anyone in your group that can use Symbology, then?" Roger asked.

"We don't, as a matter of fact," Wolf said before he looked away. "(If I recall, we can learn special abilities in every world out there... Isn't there a way to keep them with us, though? This Hand of Doom attack proved useful to me...)"

Sophia looked at Nel. "Nel, do you think we can give them that?"

Nel crossed her arms. "Wait, are you thinking in giving them the Decrepit Tome we have?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Cliff began. "You should think before doing something reckless here. If they want to learn Symbology through what we have with us, we should spend some more time together and see if they're not trying to deceive us."

Tails looked up at the tall man. "H-hey, we're not planning to do that sort of thing. What makes you say that?"

Cliff crossed his arms. "I believe Maria already questioned you before, right?"

"Of course," Maria said. "I'm being a little bit more careful with them around us."

Fayt knew an argument was going to come very soon if he let Maria talk even longer. "Um, why don't we stop this before it gets, um, unncessary to do?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "There you go again..." she muttered with a sigh.

The Smashers knew they were constantly being judged by the others. Chip, looking worried, decided to speak. "Hey, shouldn't we explore these fields to see if we can find that temp-I mean, group?"

Maria looked at him. "...Pardon me to ask, but did you just say temple?"

"N-no..." Chip sweated as many of the Smashers glared at him (actually, they were all glaring at him).

"...(Okay, now I know for sure they're hiding something for real this time...)" Maria thought as Sonic grabbed Chip and pulled him away from her. "(Just what is so utterly important for them to conceal?)"

"I guess your friend is right," Nel said as she put her hands on her hips. "We don't need to waste anymore time if you want to find that group so badly."

"Yeah, let's just help them so we get done with this," Roger said. "I wanna go to the enemies' headquarters very soon."

"That can wait," Fayt said. "Now..." He looked around. "Where should we head to?"

Nel pointed east. "We shouldn't go there because a big rock wall from the nearby canyon won't let us pass unless we climb it." She pointed to the west where a long trail of trees resided, making long archs of wood and branches. "Why not head over there instead?"

Everyone turned to the west. Cliff rubbed his chin. "Isn't that where the Aquatic Garden of Surferio is?"

"Aquatic Garden of Surferio?" Tails repeated. "What's that place?"

"It's a sunken city that lies underground between Surferio and Aquios," Nel explained. "There's a hidden passage that goes down to a big sanctuary where huge ruins reside. We explored the ruins before, but the whole sanctuary was enormous by itself. It's been in ruins since the Kingdom of Aquor fought the Kingdom of Greeton a long time ago."

Tails rubbed his chin. "It'd make sense for the...uh...group we're chasing to hide there because they like to steal relics and all that..."

"Well, they're wasting their time," Nel continued. "There are no artifacts in the ruins anymore. However, I do think it'd be a nice place to hide."

Cliff smacked his fists together. "What are we waiting for? Let's head over there and see if we can find those guys or that guy over there will do it for us instead."

Everyone looked at each other after Cliff spoke.

"Um, what do you mean by that?" Chris asked.

Cliff pointed to the west where he saw a tall person under the archs of trees. "Don't you see that eggman-looking guy over there? Yeah, I was talking about him."

"Eggman guy..." Sonic and Tails muttered before looking to the west.

Ironically enough, there was none other than Dr. Eggman looking around the trees without doing anything else. Sonic grinned, Tails gasped, and Chip was being himself as he titled his head. "Eggman!" Sonic and Tails yelled, making the whole group stare at their direction.

"Well, wasn't that the description I gave?" Cliff asked.

"Er, no, that's his name..." Tails said.

"...OOOOOOOOOOOOH, I see..." Cliff looked up with a frown. "...Seriously, that's his name?"

Maria rubbed her chin as she looked at the shady doctor. "I supposed he's one of the group you're looking for, am I correct?"

"Pretty much," Chris said. "But...what is he doing here of all places? I don't recall he was with...you know who...the group..."

Tails looked serious at everyone. "Whatever Dr. Eggman is doing here shouldn't be good."

"I have some questions to ask him as well," Sonic said as he crossed his arms. "Let's go and see what he's doing here!"

The hedgehog was the first one to make it behind the evil scientist. As he halted his fast speed, he grinned at Dr. Eggman and pointed an accussing finger to him as Dr. Eggman talked to himself. "Now, where could it be?" Dr. Eggman asked as he scratched his head. "I'm pretty sure it should nearby this area..."

"Eggman!"

Dr. Eggman looked up before turning around to look down at Sonic, cracking his fingers with a confident grin before everyone else reached them. "Oh no, it's you," Dr. Eggman muttered in annoyance.

Sonic chuckled. "Well, you came all the way here so I could kick your egg(beep) again? Man, I didn't think you were THAT stubborn!"

Peppita folded her arms and looked confused. "Um, Fox, what is an eg-"

Fox covered her mouth. "Don't bother asking what that word means. You're still too young to know, anyway."

"..." Peppita merely blinked confused. "...Okay..."

Fox looked away. "(Why'd she ask me and not somebody else, anyway?)"

TO BE CONTINUED...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Say, I don't like this title. The Melacholy Of The Bravest?" Peppita asked.

"Pfft, I hope that doesn't have anything to do with me," Roger commented.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Irisa Fields
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Peppita, Roger

[DededeCloneChris]

Chapter 156: The Melancholy Of The Bravest

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

The group stared at Dr. Eggman: some with glares, some with blank faces, and some with confused looks after seeing such a fat guy with thin legs.

"How the heck did you get here?" Sonic demanded.

Dr. Eggman folded his arms and bent down to look at Sonic. "Well, now that you're kindly asking without using violence...I guess I should tell you because all odds are against me with contradictions ready."

Tails looked down, but his eyes were focusing on the scientist. "You should've had some way to get all the way to this place, isn't that right?"

"Ohohohohoho, quite right," Dr. Eggman said before he pulled himself back up, crossing his arms in front of him. "Well then, what do you want to ask me?"

"I thought I already asked you," Sonic pointed out.

Dr. Eggman chuckled a bit. "I forgot the question. Care to repeat it to me?"

"U-um..." Chris coughed a bit. "Sonic asked you why you were here..."

"...Oh, now I remember," Dr. Eggman said with a small grin. "Well, bunch of clueless people, I got here thanks to a reliavable benefactor who offered to give me a ride to where you were. It's not easy for me to just jump between dimensions with my machines."

Many of the Smashers forgot about the fact that they had 7 allies of Elicoor II with them. Maria raised an eyebrow after hearing the doctor. "Jump between dimensions? What is that supposed to mean exactly?"

"And who might you be?" Dr. Eggman asked before looking at the other group. "You've got yourself a whole group of newcomers, it seems... Well, what's your name, young lady?"

"My name is Maria Traydor, leader of Quark, an anti-Federation group that works under its own rules."

"Maria?" Dr. Eggman repeated before looking up to the sky. "Ah, that name sure brings back memories of my deceased cousin..."

"Deceased cousin?"

"It's something you shouldn't bother to look," Dr. Eggman said. "You 2 only share names, but that's about it I'll ever tell to you."

Maria took a step forward. "Okay, thanks for the little info about your family, but I'm still waiting for your answer to the question I asked to you."

"Oh, jump between dimensions..." Dr. Eggman recalled. "I don't see why I shouldn't tell you, Maria." He cleared his throat. "I'm not a person born in this universe because I came from another universe that isn't here. Those imbeciles you're traveling aren't also from this universe as well."

This extremely simple explanation made the 4 Smashers, Tails, and Chip, facepalm with a frown. They surely thought the same word.

BUSTED.

"...What?" Fayt asked before looking at the Smashers. "So it's true you're not from a known part of the galaxy?"

"Ooh, that's pretty shocking," Cliff said. "You guys didn't look like you lived in any of the planets I know, either. I could have believed the kid (Chris: Teen, dangit!) but since he's traveling with you..."

Peppita looked at Fox. "...You're not from this universe, Fox?"

"Well..." Fox looked down and clenched his fists. "Dammit..." he muttered.

Dr. Eggman grinned. "They didn't tell you? Oh, that's something they wouldn't reveal without much freedom. After all, all of us don't belong in any part of this universe."

"You idiot..." Chris muttered.

The scientist looked at the leader of Quark. "Was that what you wanted to hear? I'm glad I was able to reveal to you their origins. Now, I'll see what you'll do to them for lying."

Maria stared blankly at him.

"...So?"

"...Just as I expected," Maria said, not particularly showing any hints of surprise as most of her group did show. She looked amused at Dr. Eggman with a small smile. "I knew for sure they didn't even come from any part of the universe since I studied everything there is to know about the Pangalactic Federation."

"..." Dr. Eggman stared at her.

Maria shook her head. "And...I don't want to punish them," she stated. "I'd have punished them if they kept lying to me, but you were so kind enough to tell me what they were all hiding from us. Truthfully, I'd have to thank you for saving further interrogations I was planning to do to them."

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "What do you know, we don't need to lie anymore to them."

"W-Wolf!" Chris looked at him. "W-why are you saying that now?"

"Face it, kid," Wolf said bored. "No matter how much we try to hide it, the people are bound to know about what we really do. I don't see why we should keep lying any longer since it doesn't necessarily cause any kind of problem to whoever wants to know."

"B-but..."

"Don't you feel relieved for explaining yourself?" Wolf asked. "Personally, I like to be completely honest so I don't have any trash pestering me."

"Hey, who are you calling trash?" Cliff asked.

"Step back, Cliff," Nel said amused. "He's just being honest because he's annoyed."

"But still, he insulted us."

"So? I don't see the reason of being dishonest. If he wants to speak his mind, then let him." Nel looked at Wolf. "However, I know people can change their attitudes towards others. Even the most rotten individual can change overtime."

"Tsk, now you're starting to say foolish things..." Wolf muttered as he looked away.

Nel chuckled amused. "You'll see."

Everyone looked back at Dr. Eggman and Maria.

Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Oh well, it's not like I waited for you to beat up each other down."

"That was your plan, dork..." Sonic said bored.

"...Maybe?" Dr. Eggman asked.

Maria sighed and quickly took out her phase gun that she aimed directly at the scientist's head. "Now with that away, I wouldn't mind if you start to surrender," Maria said.

"What is the meaning of this sudden display of actions?" Dr. Eggman asked.

Maria chuckled. "I know that they're not bad guys after they argued to me about their false intentions, that's for sure," she admitted. "They would have done something before but they didn't. I'm glad to say they're relievable to us. After I met you by the hedgehog, I instantly knew you were going to pull out a trick to make us question them. Too bad you didn't expect that your card didn't play as you expected it to do since it backfired at you."

Dr. Eggman grunted a bit. "Wow, aren't you the most clever lady?"

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you," Maria said as her right finger slowly reached for the trigger. "Now, as I've said before, surrender."

"Why would I surrender now?" Dr. Eggman asked. "I'm just an innocent doctor looking for the Spagonia Temple located somewhere in this planet."

"Wait, what?" Tails asked. "You're looking for the Spagonia Temple as well?"

"Why would I come all the way here?"

Sonic raised a finger. "You'd come all the way here to try and kill us off since you don't have anything better to do?" he asked.

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "That's a small freebie of my plans," he admitted. "But truthfully, I'm here to locate the temple and keep you away from it."

"Why are you so interested in the temple, Mr. Eggman?" Chip asked curiously.

The scientist looked at the imp. "...Who might you be?" he asked confused.

Chip chuckled and began to punch the air a few times. "My name is Chip McChip, adventurous imp!"

"...Chip McChip...right..." Dr. Eggman waved a hand. "I don't have time for little guys like you, honestly."

"H-hey, I can be pretty dangerous..." Chip trailed off.

"You're only dangerous to the flies, everything else clearly outmatches you in any field," Dr. Eggman said. "Back on topic..."

Tails rubbed his chin. "If you're looking for the Spagonia Temple...then...that must mean you know about Dark Gaia..."

"Dark...what again?" Nel asked confused.

"...Wait, that's the most logical thing!" Tails said before glaring at him. "Dr. Eggman, you're here to find the Spagonia Temple because you know about Dark Gaia! There's no other reason behind your motives!"

"...Bingo and bull's eye," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle. "That's right, Tails, I'm here to find that temple in order to prevent anything from awakening Dark Gaia."

Sonic pointed at him. "Are you the one who's behind the continents floating apart from each other?"

"Duh," Dr. Eggman said. "What, didn't I tell you?"

"You cheap bastard!" Sonic yelled. "You told us many times before it wasn't you who did all that chaos!"

Chris looked bored. "Actually, I probably was the only one who knew he was behind pretty much EVERYTHING that happens in your world..."

"Your world?" Roger asked.

"Face it," Chris said with a sigh. "If something very catastrophic happens in your world, it's always going to be Dr. Eggman no matter what it is. There's not another person out who would do such a thing. You 2...basically won't learn that..."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other. "Weeeeeeeeeell, now that you put it that way..." both trailed off.

"But enough of this small chit-chat," Dr. Eggman said as he snapped his fingers, calling instantly a strong wind from the west that made everyone back away as a big green and white floating robot with roller blades on its hands came from above. The robot only had a main body with arms and its hands equipped with spinning blades. "It's time for me to use the Interceptor on all of you!"

"Stop right there!" Maria yelled as pulled the trigger, unfortunately missing to hit the scientist since he backed away behind the robot before them. "Dammit..." she muttered as everyone looked at the robot.

It was not long before Dr. Eggman called his transporter with another snap of his fingers. The scientist jumped into it where he sat and floated besides the Interceptor. "Well, Sonic, other bunch of people I barely know, it's time for you to take a hike and go away from here because my robot isn't going to be taken down easily!"

Everyone prepared to fight the robot. "I can infer he's evil, right?" Maria asked as she glanced up at the Interceptor.

"Oh, you don't know how much he tries to be evil," Sonic said with a grin.

"Oh, okay," Maria said before aiming her phase gun at the floating robot.

Dr. Eggman laughed before grinning evilly at them. "Your pathetic weapons won't scratch the Interceptor that easily, imbeciles! I've designed this robot for the sole purpose of eliminating you once and for all. You don't have many odds to defeat this ultimate creation of my technology! Just try destroying it by yoursel-"

"Aiming Device!" Maria suddenly interrupted.

Everyone watched as the long hard blue shot passed right through the Interceptor, making a big hole in its metal chest before letting out sparks. The robot began to twitch constantly as it slowly turned around, floated away some feet, crashed down upon the ground, and exploded into bits of metal.

Dr. Eggman stared at the spot where his new robot exploded by a single shot from the leader of Quark. The scientist just kept staring at the empty air as the others did the same, except without looking surprised. They didn't hear the small sniffing sound that Dr. Eggman made.

"...Ouch," Cliff commented with a chuckle as Maria kept her phase gun in her holster. "That ended way too fast than I expected."

"...Dude," Roger began. "Maria just proved you how wrong you were..."

"So..." Fox trailed off. "...I can guess you took it down because of your weapon?"

Maria nodded without looking at him. "That robot wasn't well-constructed enough to withstand our weapons," she explained before crossing her arms, looking amused at the doctor. "Also, you're just wasting your time in making such a ridiculous-looking robot to take us out."

"..." Dr. Eggman turned to them before starting to grunt loudly. "...Okay, I'm honest when I have to admit you're stupidly strong to take down one of my most ultimate creations!"

"Heh," Sonic chuckled before grinning. "Got another robot we can destroy?"


"E-er..." Dr. Eggman looked around. "W-well, y-yes, I have another one ready to take you down..."

"Well," Nel began as she crossed her arms. "Where is that robot?"

Dr. Eggman raised a finger. "Well, that robot is right over..." He looked around before he quickly flew away from them to the west, making most of them gasp. "Hohohohohohohohoho! See you all later, idiots! Hohohohohohohohoho!"

Maria got a little fed up by this action that she began to shoot to his direction. However, by the time she shot, Dr. Eggman had already gotten away from them.

"What a dirty trick," Roger commented. "He was just trying to make his escape!"

"Does it matter now?" Tails asked. "He's always getting away like this..."

Wolf rolled his eye. "I can't understand why you didn't do anything to seize him before he could escape away like that."

"Well, we like to hear motives and reasons before doing something reckless. We have to stay alarmed for anything."

"You call that stay alarmed?" Chris asked. "You didn't do anything..."

Tails shifted his eyes around. "W-well..."

"Seriously," the dragoon began with a sigh. "This is why you always will face him all the time..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this conversation, but you didn't do anything to stop him if you knew he was going to do it," Sonic pointed out annoyed.

"...I..." Chris blushed embarrassed.

"Shouldn't you do something as well?" Sonic asked with a grin.

"If I recall, you didn't do anything," Fayt pointed out.

"..." Sonic remained silent.

"And you didn't do anything as well either, Fayt," Nel pointed out.

"I-I just met him, how else was I going to know him?" Fayt asked.

Cliff chuckled. "Well, Ms. Elicoor here didn't do a thing t-"

Without even looking, Nel already had a dagger dangerously pointing its tip at Cliff's throat.

"H-hey, it was just a joke," Cliff said as he looked at the dagger. "Don't take it that personally..."

Nel chuckled before keeping her dagger. "Well, this was getting stale so I asked myself why not stop it."

"Scar-ee..." Cliff muttered.

Tails looked worried as he stared at the direction where Dr. Eggman escaped. "Still, we didn't get much information about how Dr. Eggman got here in the first place... He said he was looking for the Spagonia Temple but that's it..."

Sonic grumbled a bit as he frowned. "That Eggman surely is planning another one of his every day schemes."

"That's obvious," Tails said. "I wonder how he got here since he said he wouldn't possibly come here through his inventions. He must have had someone to take him here...but who would that be?"

Fox thought for a moment. "If he came here, wouldn't Tabuu be the person he was talking about?"

The Smashers looked at each other.

"...Of course," Chris said. "There wouldn't be any other person who could take people through worlds like that...he must have been the one who brought Dr. Eggman here..."

"So Dr. Eggman is in league with Tabuu..." Tails muttered. "...Aren't we thinking about conclusions too soon, though?"

"Yes, but it should have been Tabuu," Fox said.

Fayt coughed. "Um, sorry for interrupting, but what are you all talking about?"

"Yeah..." Peppita said confused. "You guys...aren't from this universe?"

"What's this all about the Tabuu guy?" Cliff asked, "And what about the eggman guy?"

Maria looked at the Smashers. "Well, it seems your lies won't work for much longer for us."

Fox looked at her. "You weren't even thinking we were telling the truth?"

"Of course not," Maria said. "There are no proofs that there are people that look like most of you in any part of the universe. I find your group's members a very odd team because of how different each one looks like."

"I guess you could say that..." Fox muttered.

Sophia looked confused at the group. "I-I don't understand anything about their true reasons, though. It's too much confusing for me to find an answer by myself..."

Maria shook her head. "Don't worry, Sophia, they're going to explain their reasons and origins once we get everyone back with us. I don't want to hear repetitions twice." She looked at the Smashers. "Do we have a deal with that?"

"Yeah, whatever," Wolf said. "I'd rather say all the details than say lies."

"(But the video game fact is out of the question,)" Chris thought. "(That'd be far longer to explain...actually, I think I'm forgetting a big revelation in this world now that I think about it...)"

"Then we're all good," Fayt said before sighing. "Finally, I was worried Maria would do something harsh to you guys."

Maria looked at him. "Hey, I wasn't going to use violence against them."

Tails smiled a bit in relief. "Well, we can tell you everything if you promise to help us out that is..."

"It'll depend," Nel said a little bit skeptical. "You just came out of nowhere and asked us for our help. I'd say we should judge your problems if they concern us in some way or another."

"Believe me," Fox said serious. "This concerns a lot of people."

"We'll see," Nel said. "For now, let's do whatever you want to do with the temple you're really looking for." She crossed her arms. "I can assure you there isn't such temple in any part of neither the Kingdom of Aquios nor the Kingdom of Airyglyph."

"Why are you guys looking for a temple?" Roger asked.

"I guess that would be one of the most important questions to ask them..." Maria thought before looking around. "Actually...we should go back to Peterny for the time being."

"What?" Chris asked. "B-but I thought we were looking for the Aquatic Garden around here..."

"Sorry for doing this sudden action, but I really want to know more about all of you," Maria explained. "Also, we should wait for everyone else to regroup so we all know what's happening with you."

Cliff nodded and closed his eyes. "Yeah, I agree with Maria right there."

"I wouldn't mind hearing explanations," Nel admitted. "As long as they're grave to my world, I'll do what I can do to help."

"Hmm-hm," Roger said with some nods. "That sounds pretty good to me."

"Well..." Sophia looked worried. "That plan doesn't sound too bad either... Okay, I agree."

"I'm a little bit curious..." Peppita said as she played with her fingers. "(Maybe I can know more about Fox this way?)"

"..." Fayt sighed. "Okay, fine, I agree with everybody here..."

Sonic rolled his eyes and grinned. "You guys go on ahead. I'll look around the area and see if I can find that tem-"

"You're coming with us and that's that," Chris interrupted suddenly.

Sonic looked at him. "Hey, what's the big deal with that?"

"Did you forget about the promise you told me?" Chris asked. "You said you weren't going to run off again. What if we get in trouble...or you get in trouble for going away? Do you really want to cause of trouble because of your actions?"

"I..." Sonic stared at Chris before he frowned. "...No, I don't want to do that..."

Sophia looked confused at this but decided to stay on topic. "So...are we gonna head back to Peterny and stop our progress for now?"

"That's the idea," Maria said. "I'm sure everyone would understand each other better if we hear the full story of their mission that for some reason involves all of us as well. We can resume our little expedition for a little bit of time. After all, I don't want to let this bother me any longer."

Wolf turned around and began to walk back. "I'll go on ahead and head to the town. I don't want to deal with more of those Executioners, Proclaimers, or whatever the heck they are supposed to be..."

"I have to agree with you there..." Chip said before shuddering. "Their voices freak me out..."

The Smashers and Fayt's group decided to go back to Peterny to explain the situation to everyone else that didn't know about the Subspace Army. They were already expecting "Ms. Maria" to "crave" every single detail possible from them.

Peterny
Central Square

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Lively Step

Once the big group walked to the center of the square of the town from the north, they recognized the other group of Smashers and Mirage sitting around a big table in an outdoor restaurant, Mirage sitting in front of the 4. The group itself was separated from the other costumers that ate peacefully on the other tables, not minding the group at all. Upon looking at them, Roger ran to them and stopped to look up at Mirage. "Hey, why're you here, Mirage? Weren't you guys in the south field of Peterny?"

Mirage looked down at Roger. "Oh, it's you, Roger," she said calmly as everyone else rejoined. "Looks like you came earlier as well."

Maria blinked at the other 4 Smashers. "Why'd you come back here?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Mirage said. "I just happened to find out what they were all hiding as you suspected, Maria."

Chris looked at the others. "Wait, what?"

Samus frowned. "I'm telling you the truth when I said this could've been adverted if C. Falcon wouldn't have opened his big mouth."

C. Falcon looked at her. "Hey, I already said I was sorry!"

Pit rolled his eyes. "Seriously, why did you decide to go on and say aloud "Bring those Subspace Army guys to me. C'mon! I'll show them not to mess up with us anymore!" then?!"

"..." Chris looked bored at the racer. "...I hate to say this, but I can totally picture you saying such a thing... However, I have to something to ask you... Why the hell did you that for?!"

"I-I was just excited to some action, that's all!" C. Falcon defended himself. "But I guess I went too far with that..."

Mirage chuckled. "When I asked them about the army, he cordially told me everything they knew about it."

"THAT was another reason..." Roy muttered. "C. Falcon became infatuated by her so easily..."

Fox frowned and looked at the racer. "Your big mouth almost cost us the whole thing...but it's not like we're going to keep it as a secret anymore."

"Oh, why's that?" Samus asked. "Don't tell me you did something similar EXCEPT less stupid."

"We kind of did..." Sonic frowned. "We didn't do it...but Eggman did..."

The 5 looked at each other. "Eggman?" Roy repeated. "Isn't that the guy with the big belly, egg-shaped body?"

"Yeah," Tails said. "We found him to the northeast of the city."

Wolf noticed that the group of 5 didn't exactly have 5 people but 7. The extra 2 were not sitting on chairs, but they were standing up, not saying a single word. "Hey, who are the 2 of them?"

Mirage looked at him. "Oh, them? They happened to be coming back from Airyglyph when we were on the fields south of here. I guess you haven't met them yet, right?"

The Smashers looked at the 2 newcomers.

The first was an old man of 58 years that stood 6'2". Despite the man's old age, he looked a little bit younger due to the fact he was muscular. The man wore a long red kilt (with a sword's sheathe hanging on the right side of his belt) with Japanese shoes. The old man had grey hair, grey beard, and a grey mustache.

The man examined the group with his pale red eyes. Once looking at them for a while, the old man chuckled and crossed his arms. "Well, well, don't we have even more people to meet here? Hahahahahahahaha!" he laughed loudly.

"...Something about this man doesn't make me feel uncomfortable..." Roy muttered.

Roy was suddenly grabbed by the old man's right arm. The red-haired swordsman yelped a little bit as the old man bent down to look at him. "Hey, why are you muttering things about me, young man?"

"I-I didn't mean to say anything insulting, I swear!" Roy pleaded, confusing the other group of Smashers.

After looking at the man, Fox looked at Fayt. "Who's he?"

"Oh," Nel began as she crossed her arms as Roy was being stared by the old man. "Allow me to introduce him to you."

"Why bother?" the old man suddenly asked as he let go of Roy. The old man showed his teeth and bit and chuckle. "I'll do my own introduction here, Nel." He coughed a bit before crossing his arms. "It's a pleasure to meet more youngsters like all of you. My name is Adray Lasbard."

Adray Lasbard is a retired soldier of the Crimson Blade (the special unit where Nel works) that once worked together with Nevelle Zelpher (Nel's deceased father) to support the growth and prosperity of the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. Due to his unpredictable nature and somewhat violent actions, many consider Adray a person quick to get bored, which is why nobody ever puts him to do desk work where he can't sit down and stay silent for a minute because he would kick the table away. (It should be said that, because of his attitude, he's been a messenger so he wouldn't participate in important matters).  In battle, Adray is a master of both physical attacks and Symbology.

"So," Adray began as he smiled at the Smashers. "I heard from Mirage that you're the new guys who came here to join us." He rubbed his chin as he looked at Chris. "You, the young teen in the red jacket, can I ask you a question?"

For once, somebody addressed Chris as a teen. The dragoon looked at him. "Yes?"

"Are you..." Adray looked down at Roy for a moment. "...Do you happen to be looking for the girl of your dreams?"

Chris instantly blushed at this sudden question. "W-what? W-why are you asking that?"

Adray grinned. "I'm asking that because my daughter is looking for one. I'm telling you, she's a real beauty to the Kingdom o-"

"Ahem," Nel coughed and frowned at Adray's question. "For the last time, Adray, Clair doesn't want to get married yet."

"Aww, please," Adray said with some disappointment. "You Nel know as well as I do Clair won't try to marry anyone soon unless I go look for the perfect husband."

Wolf grinned at Chris. "I wish you good luck with your family, kid."

"V-very funny!" Chris yelled sarcastically.

Nel shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "Sorry, Adray, but you need to understand that. Besides, Clair herself gets annoyed by you asking to others to marry her. Haven't you learned your lesson nor do you want her to scold you again?"

"Pardon me to ask, but who's this Clair person?" Roy asked before Adray, yet again, pulled him close with his right arm. "Uagh!"

Adray pointed a finger at Roy's nose. "This person turns out to be my beloved daughter, young man," he said seriously. "Do you want me to ask you to marry her?"

"P-please, reconsider what you're asking, sir!" Roy yelled.

"Adray, stop," Nel said annoyed. "Nobody here wants to marry Clair."

Adray looked at her, not noticing he was putting a rather strong grip on Roy's throat. "Not even the young man in the red jacket?"

Chris shook his head several times. "I-I'm telling you I don't want to marry someone yet! I-I'm way too young to do that!"

Adray, pushing Roy down by accident, stood up and raised an eyebrow. "Age doesn't matter around here," he stated.

"No, it doesn't matter to you," Nel pointed out. "Seriously, stop it. It's getting annoying."

Adray rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine I won't be asking anymore..." He turned around...but then turned back. "She's still single, though."

"Adray!"

"It was just a joke, geez..." Adray frowned.

"It's always the same old joke every single minute with you..."

The group noticed the second and last person of Fayt's group some feet away from them. Unlike all of them, the black-and-yellow-haired teen of 24 years that stood 6'1" feet looked rather evil. The teen was a native of Elicoor as Nel, Adray, and Roger. He wore a purple shirt that only covered his chest and not his waist, a purple kilt that was cut in half by the sides of his legs where a sheathe with a katana was hanging from his right side, purple long heels, and black shoes. It should be noted that his left arm was completely covered in a steel gauntlet with a sharp claw. By the look of his eyes, he looked at anything without interest since they looked bored.

Chip blinked a few times at the last person. "Who's that guy?"

Nel stared at the teen. "Oh, he's Albel Nox, better known as Albel the Wicked of the Kingdom of Airyglyph."

Albel Nox is the captain of the Black Brigade, one of the three military forces of the Kingdom of Airyglyph. His nickname is Albel the Wicked due to his mastery of battles. During the war between Airyglyph and Aquaria, Fayt and company met the captain several times before the kingdoms decided to join forces against the Executioners, the king of Airyglyph forcing Albel to help Fayt. Albel is an excellent combatant specializing in the katana, a special kind of sword. It should be said that Albel isn't very kind to anyone he meets because of the fact he mostly addresses people as...

"Maggots..." Albel said as he slowly walked to them. "I had enough with our current group, but now we have to look out after these other maggots..."

"Who are you calling a maggot?" Wolf asked with a glare. "The only new maggot I see here is you."

Albel looked at Wolf. "How ironic you say that. You're the only one of your whole group that deserves to be even more of a maggot."

"Heh," Wolf chuckled at him before glaring. "What a funny joke. Just look at how I'm laughing here."

Albel narrowed his eyes even more. "Don't try to mock me anymore, I'm warning you."

"Tsk, same here," Wolf said with a grin. "If you look so tough, why don't we settle this little misunderstanding thro-"

"Okay, okay, you both can stop now," Nel interrupted as both glared at her. "This is supposed to be a pacific city. We're not meant to start a fight here just because of a small argument that's not relevant to us."

"Oh, right, after all, we're in Aquaria territory," Albel said.

"That's not it and you know it," Nel said before looking at Wolf. "Please, don't mind him if he insults you."

"Too bad," Wolf said as he crossed his arms, glaring at the captain. "Once someone ticks me off, it won't be easy for me to forget the treatment."

"Same here," Albel admitted.

Fayt shifted his eyes around before he raised a finger to talk. "W-"

"I think everyone's here," Maria interrupted Fayt. "Well, we want to hear your real story without concealing the truth this time," she said to the Smashers. "It's very obvious you're not from this universe, and it's also obvious that you're doing something even more different than what you explained before."

Samus stood up from her chair. "I want to do all the explanation here."

"Very well," Maria said. "Please, go on ahead and tell everyone here. I don't think the citizens of this place will mind us."

"Okay," Samus said as she looked at the whole group. "In truth..."

3 hours later...

"...And our job is to prevent Tabuu from ultimately taking every single realm, world, or universe before he achieves his desires," Samus explained. "...That's pretty much it..."

The group of Elicoor kept blinking at her after listening about everything the Smashers did in the past. However, Samus didn't mention the fact that everyone but Chris was a video game character; that was the only truth they wouldn't dare to say to anyone.

"..." Maria rubbed her chin. "Wow...I'm actually quite...amused by that..."

Fayt thought for a moment. "So you guys mean to say you travel around different universes to stop this Subspace Army from conquering all the worlds? I didn't think you'd be in such a mission."

"Yes..." Pit said. "It's actually a hard work we always do every day..."

Roger whistled a bit. "Stupidly unbelievable...yet so cool and awesome." He grinned a bit. "You guys are probably something to be doing that. Wait, no, not something, but really amazing."

"Ouch," Cliff commented. "You have a lot of weight on your backs, huh?"

"You wouldn't believe all the events we went through..." Chris said. "It's always fighting everywhere we go, but there's not other way to resolve matters."

Sophia thought for a moment. "Was that Dr. Eggman person one of the Subspace Army members?"

"It's the most logical answer we have for now," Roy said. "You said you met him, right? Tabuu comes to mind when you want to find out a way how he got here in the first place."

"Tsk," Albel began with a frown. "It doesn't matter to me where the heck you came from. It matters to me if I get to have something to get out of boredom since the war between the 2 kingdoms stopped. I wouldn't mind killing some maggots to death."

"Always in favor of violence, huh?" Nel said amused. "You really live up for your nickname, Albel the Wicked."

Albel looked away. "Whatever..."

Peppita giggled. "I knew you guys were hiding something so awesome to tell us. I'm so impressed that you do that very often. You meet a lot of new people, you fight against different enemies, you ensure peace, it's all so cool!" she said. "And to think we're helping such people to save our own universe makes me feel like I'm part of a big team!"

"It's fun," Chip said. "I've been traveling very much around."

"If I recall, you only traveled to 2 worlds," Sonic pointed out.

Chip greeted his teeth and approached Sonic's right ear. "Quite, Sonic, I'm trying to look good here..."

Sonic chuckled. "Good luck..." he said sarcastically.

"Thanks," Chip whispered. "It's good to know you're always there to support me, Sonic."

Sonic looked disappointed at the imp. He knew Chip wasn't even using sarcasm for the smallest bit. "(Geez, he can't tell who's being sarcastic...)"

"Bwahahahahaha!" Adray's loud laugh made most of them look at him quickly. "Now I see what you do! Seriously, you don't really want to know my daughter and see if you want to marry her?"

"For the last time, Adray..." Nel trailed off.

"Heheheheheh, that was just a joke, though..." Adray said.

Nel narrowed her eyes at him. "How can I possibly tell you were joking? You're always saying it too seriously whenever you talk about it."

Adray shifted his eyes around as everyone stared bored at him. "...Youngsters these days don't know when an old man jokes..."

"...Why are we listening to him, anyway?" Roger asked confused.

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing since the start of this," Albel said.

Nobody decided to talk as the chatters of the people of Peterny prevented silence.

"...Sooooooooo..." Cliff shifted his eyes. "...You told us your reasons and we understand them..."

Tails scratched his head. "Y-yeah, but...I thought you had already planned something else to say..."

Maria rubbed her chin. "Since there's nothing else to talk about, why don't we return to what we were doing? You wanted to find that Spagonia Temple somewhere in this planet, right? Also, since we're all here, it would make the search even easier to do if we divide in even smaller groups. We're 20 people."

Fayt thought for a moment. "Well, I want to go to the workshop and make more items and refine some of our weapons."

"I wouldn't mind going there as well," Cliff said. "I'm a little bit tired after walking around the whole kingdom with Nel."

"I want to go to the workshop too," Mirage said as she stood up, C. Falcon hiding a pleased gasp.

Aquios Territory
Irisa Fields

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Bird's Eye View

Back on the fields of Irisa, the whole group discussed what to do next now that they were all back on track. Maria had suggested that they should return to the Irisa Fields and resume their search for the Spagonia Temple. However, the biggest difference was that only Maria, Sophia, Peppita, Chris, Fox, Wolf, Sonic, and Chip went to the fields.

In Peterny, Fayt, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, C. Falcon, and Samus decided to stay at the workshop for more Item Creation business.

Adray himself wanted to make an expedition with Roy, Pit, Roger, and Tails to the south since they were all the only ones left to choose. Something about Nel made her think that it wouldn't be such a good idea to send most young boys with him. After all, Adray could take advantage of the situation and bring them all to meet Clair.

Not to mention that Clair herself was to the south...

Well, Roy knew what to respond. Too bad Adray would probably beat him up if he dared say no to anything the old man would ask him.

Back with the group that went back to the spot they were, Sonic shuddered once looking at Maria's group. "Ugh, we're being escorted by girls... This is seriously not making me feel so good..."

"What was that?" Maria asked as they stopped walking. "Are you being a little bit sexist to us?"

"P-please, don't mind what he said..." Chris said. "Sonic sometimes doesn't know when he goes far."

"Hey, that's not true!" Sonic argued.

"Quiet, hedgehog," Wolf said annoyed before crossing his arms. "If you forgot, we're trying to find some ruins around these parts."

"I have to agree," Fox said as he looked around the arches of trees. "Where are those ruins?"

As Maria recalled the locations of the ruins, an excited Peppita was whispering things with Sophia some feet away from them all. Apparently, the Velbaysian wanted to work harder to get Fox's attention. Now that she had Sophia, things were surely going to work out.

That was what Peppita thought, though.

[DededeCloneChris]

"So, got any ideas to help me out?" Peppita whispered to Sophia.

The young teen didn't know what to say to the cheerful Velbaysian. Sophia knew well that Peppita wanted to achieve her goal at all costs. It was sad to thing about Sophia telling Peppita that Fox would surely not think the same as the girl thought.

"Well..." Sophia looked worried at this. "Peppita...are you really sure you want to go with this?"

Peppita looked a bit serious. "Sophia, I know I'm doing the right thing here," she said. "I never felt so crazy in love with a guy before so I want to enjoy as soon as a I can."

"But seriously..." Sophia muttered.

"...Seriously what?" Peppita asked, hinting some preoccupation in her eyes. "What are you trying to say, Sophia?"

"I-I..." Sophia stammered a bit as she looked at Peppita's eyes. Her eyes were shaking so slow enough to produce very small tears that glittered a bit. Sophia didn't have enough courage to tell Peppita about what she thought about the idea that sounded farfetched to her. "...I-I'm thinking my best to help you...but I just can't find any good idea..."

"..." Peppita stared at her. "...What? You don't know how to help me?" She folded her arms and looked down. "I thought you were good at this kind of situations, Sophia...Mirage told me so."

Inside Sophia's mind, she hid some annoyance of what she really thought about what Peppita just told her. "(Mirage was asked first and she decided to give Peppita to me...)" Sophia could have sworn a small sniff came from the Velbaysian. "L-let me think more, okay? I-I'm sure I can come up with a plan!"

Peppita looked up at her. "...I'm starting to feel depression, Sophia..." She looked down at the ground. "I just wanna have him notice me more...and probably make him...make him..."

Sophia gasped a bit as she saw Peppita sniffing a bit. "I-I have an idea!" she suddenly said, making Peppita quickly look up at her. "Y-yes, I have the perfect idea to help you out, Peppita!"

Cheerfulness quickly affected Peppita as she smiled happily. "Y-you do? W-what is it? W-what do I need to do?"

"Y-you..." Sophia's lips twitched a bit. She didn't have the slightest idea about an idea (pun intended). "...Y-you have to..."

Peppita blinked in excitement. This action only made Sophia more nervous. Now that Peppita was at her highest point of happiness, telling her she didn't have an idea would surely push Peppita all the way down to depression.

"...I have to..." Peppita trailed off.

Sophia looked back and forth between Peppita and Fox's back. The teenager felt even more pressure that sweat began to go down between her eyes.

"...Y-you have to..." Sophia suddenly got an idea. "Ah, you have to...you have to..." Her mind suddenly went blank for her dismay. Now, anything would be nice to use for Peppita to not feel discouraged or herself. "...Hug him..."

"..." Peppita blinked a few times. "...Is that going to work?"

"(Stupid, stupid, stupid idea!)" Sophia thought several times. "E-er..."

Peppita chuckled. "That's way too easy to do!" she said happily. "Now I see what you meant with that, Sophia!"

The teenager looked extremely confused at her.

"If I hug him, chances are that he will hug me back!" Peppita said, making Sophia gasp mentally as she looked bewildered by Peppita's thinking. "Okay, I'm gonna head over there and do it before something else happens. Wish me luck!" she said cheerfully as she hummed, walked towards Fox, and swung her bangles back and forth on her sides.

Sophia knew this wasn't going to work at all. She just hoped Fox wouldn't get mad at her. If there was something Sophia feared more than seeing Peppita break in tears, that would be staring at Fox's face.

Seriously, the guy looked evil with those eyes of his.

"If my memory doesn't fail me..." Maria muttered as she looked to a bunch of branches with some ruined monuments around the wood. "The entrance to the ruins would be behind those branches and trees. See those monuments? It should be behind the branches."

Fox grinned a bit. "Well, shall we go and see what's inside?"

Chip looked at him. "Oh, right, you should take care of the 2 of you now."

Fox looked confused at him. "I...beg your pardon?"

Chip pointed at him. "You surely are very close to each other."

Wolf looked at Fox and chuckled amused. "What do you know, Fox has a new girlfriend."

Chris turned to Fox. "U-um...is that true?"

Sonic hid some chuckles. "W-wow, I didn't think you were like that..."

Maria looked at Fox. "W-what the..."

Fox looked confused at all of them before he noticed some tanned hands hugging his chest from behind. The vulpine quickly looked over his left shoulder to find a happy Peppita hugging him from behind. The Velbaysian looked very happy, but Fox grew uncomfortable as everyone looked at him. "Peppita?"

"...Yeah?" Peppita asked as she looked up at him. "What's the matter?"

"Er..." Fox shifted his eyes. "...Why are you...hugging me?"

Peppita stared at him surprised. "So...you're not going to hug me back?"

At this question, Wolf, Chris, and Sonic began to chuckle silently, receiving glares from the vulpine before Fox looked back at Peppita. "Why do I need to hug you back after you hugged me out of the blue?"

Peppita blushed a bit, not even thinking about stopping the hug. "Shouldn't you do the same?"

Wolf, Chris, and Sonic chuckled even more, annoying Fox even more as Chip merely stared at this curiously.

"I...don't plan to..." Fox admitted.

Some glass breaking inside Peppita's mind made her look blankly at Fox. She shifted her eyes a bit before looking at Fox's back. Peppita remained immobile before she slowly pulled her hands back to take a few steps back from the vulpine where she folded her arms and looked down. "...Okay..." she muttered before walking back to a sighing Sophia.

Wolf snickered a bit. "So, when's the wedding going to be? I'll gladly attend the event."

Fox glared at him, ignoring that Sonic began to laugh loudly as he began to pound the ground with his right fist. "Very funny, Wolf," Fox commented before walking to the west. "Can we just go see the ruins?"

The vulpine didn't hear Maria hiding a small chuckle. For once, she thought the moment was random, yet it looked funny to see. "O-okay, everyone, let's go."

Chip looked confused. "(Weird, I thought they were a couple. They looked cute together if you ask me.)"

As a chuckling Chris helped Sonic to get up from the grass, Sophia looked at the depressed Peppita. "U-um..." Sophia tried to say something to her.

However, she was taken surprised as Peppita chuckle a bit to herself, looking up to Sophia with a happy expression. "That was very effective, Sophia!"

"...What?" Sophia asked in disbelief.

"When I hugged him tightly, I managed to find out that Fox has pecs!" Peppita said pleased. "And above that, they were hard!"

"..." What did Sophia just make Peppita do? This wasn't surely even going to be thought about as far as Sophia knew. Peppita completely misunderstood every single accidental step Sophia told her to do. "(W-what did she do that?!)" Sophia asked in pure disbelief. "(W-why would a 14 years old girl go that far to get someone to love her?! W-what was she taught, anyway?!)"

"I see you're thinking you're surprised of me," Peppita said with a giggle before blushing. "I didn't know you were this good at thinking very good ideas, Sophia!"

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b..." Sophia's lips twitched in pure horror.

"Please, don't say anything," Peppita said. "I'm sure I'm gonna get to his heart very soon if I keep listening to you, Sophia." She smiled happily. "Thank you so much for helping out, Sophia!"

"(S-she's out of control... H-How am I going to get out of this one now?!)" Sophia thought in a little bit of a panic.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeey!" Chip called from the branches. "You guys need to come down and see this HUGE place! It's...huge!" he said before he disappeared from sight after going back behind the branches.

"Coming!" Peppita yelled cheerfully, leaving an astonished Sophia before she came back to her senses and ran to Peppita.

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - More Complicated

"..." Wolf crossed his arms and looked around. "...And this is supposed to be underneath the fields?"

"I..." Chris shook his head. "...I can't believe this place is actually..."

The Smashers found themselves standing on a large platform that was stuck to the ceiling of gigantic ruins that stood an insane height of about 500 feet down below their location. They each noticed that the ruins down below were gigantic enough to make 3 utopias. They looked at the platform they were on, and it didn't even match what was underneath it. In fact, the platform looked like it could fall at any moment, but it was very secured from falling off down to the insane height due to the pillars that were going straight up the misty ceiling along the staircases and floors.

The platform they were on had a long staircase that went down to the left before it spread into more staircases. The staircases themselves, however, didn't go far down. They all went down for about 7 feet each.

Fox looked back at the exit where he could see the light of day. He then looked back at the enormous ruins. "This place is just unbelievable..." he muttered.

"Amazing, isn't?" Maria asked. "I wonder how this big empty space was known as a kingdom."

Chip flew around their area, looking amazed at the ruins down below. "...Hey, if this place is so big..." he trailed off before he began to yell. "GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"GERONIMO!"

"YODELEIHIHOOOOOOO!"

The imp's surprised expression suddenly turned into a shocked one after the echo suddenly changed words out of nowhere. Chip knew he didn't yell the last word, and he pointed around confused to make the others know about what he found out. For his dismay, everyone ignored that.

"My goodness..." Sophia said in awe as she looked down. "..." She felt a little bit sick. "I-I don't want to fall off from this place..."

"Somebody got an awful lot of time in his hands..." Wolf joked sarcastically. "I'd die of boredom if I helped to build a place like this."

Chris looked worried. "D-don't tell me the Spagonia Temple could be down below..."

Maria shook her head. "Even if it was there, it would be insane to jump down. We'd surely die if we did that without thinking."

"Nah, I don't think it's down there," Sonic said as he stared down at the ruins. "It if was there, I could examine the whole place in 5 minutes best."

"Oh no, we're not sending you down there," Chris said. "What if you couldn't jump back here? I doubt you can jump that high..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right on that," Sonic said, Chip wanting to get his attention.

Maria looked forward where she saw the other floors with some monsters floating about. "There are the monsters that roam this place," she said as she pointed forward. "They're weaker than the Executioners, though. As long as we don't disturb them too much, they won't attack us."

"Sounds better to me," Wolf said as he put a hand on his right pocket. "I don't want to deal with those abnormalities myself."

"Neither do I," Fox said.

"Or me," Peppita said. "My bangles could break 'em down."

Maria thought for a moment as she looked at the long staircases that connected flat platforms where monsters roamed about. She didn't see anything out of place like the temple the Smashers were looking for. However, something didn't make her feel right as she thought hard about the situation. "We're not sure if the temple is here...we should prepare ourselves to investigate this place again."

"Wait," Fox suddenly said.

"Huh? What is it?" Maria asked. "Did you get an idea about how to find the temple?"

Fox shook his head. "No, it's not that... You see, there was something that was bothering me..."

"What would that be?" Sophia asked.

"Well...it's about the Symbology you use to attack," Fox said. "I grew a little bit curious about it once you spoke about that tome that you had that can teach anyone Symobology."

Peppita took out a tome with a red cover. "You mean this?"

"Is that the tome?"

Peppita nodded. "Yeah, this is the Decrepit Tome. It allows anyone to use basic support symbols. Sophia, you know the ones?"

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, they're Healing, Antidote, and Silence."

Maria looked at the tome before looking at Fox. "Wait, you're not thinking about learning how to use that, right?"

"I...was wondering if I could..." Fox admitted. "But I know you're going to object to that..."

Peppita suddenly got an idea in mind. "(Fox wants to learn Symbology? Well, if he wants to learn it so badly...I could use this advantage to make him like me even more!)" she thought in excitement. "Hey, Fox, take it."

Maria looked at Peppita. "What are you doing, Peppita?"

"U-um, I'm just helping him learn Symbology..." Peppita said as she blushed a little. "W-what's wrong with that?"

"Well, it's our only Decrepit Tome we have left with us," Maria pointed out. "And giving it to Fox wouldn't be such a good idea..."

"But we're fine with the healers we have," Peppita said. "Having Sophia, Adray, and Nel as healers is good enough, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Maria said before sighing. "Fine, give it to him. If we get in trouble in the future, it's going to be your full resposibility, okay?"

Peppita nodded. "Don't worry, everything's fine," she said as she gave the tome to Fox. "You just need to read the middle page of the book and you'll instantly learn the skills."

Fox stared at the tome. "That easy?"

"Yeah, I know it's creepy, but it gets the job done."

The vulpine looked confused at this before he opened the tome to the middle page. His eyes focused in some lines that were written differently apart from the other sentences. Suddenly, his eyes widened after he saw the paragraphs shining brightly before they vanished. Something inside Fox had just woken up as he stared down at the empty pages of the book.

"..." Fox looked at everyone. "...I...know how to use those 3 spells now..."

"Sweet!" Peppita said as she took the tome back. "Congratulations, you learned Healing, Antidote, and Silence!"

Maria frowned a bit. "I hope this was the right choice to do..."

Fox crossed his arms. "How do I use this Symbology magic?"

"I knew you were going to ask something like that since you came from another universe..." Maria muttered. "It should be an easy thing to do. First, you need to focus your Symbology in your hand, think about the spell you want to use, then release the spell on someone to see if it works." She rubbed her chin. "I don't exactly teach stuff like this, but I'm going to make an exception with you."

Fox looked at his right hand before he pulled it back behind him. He seemed to be staring at Sonic. "Would you mind if I use you as a my target?"

Sonic shrugged. "Meh, it's not going to hurt me so go on ahead."

Fox nodded before he closed his eyes, trying to focus his new kind of magic in his right hand.

"Focus hard or else the spell won't work," Sophia instructed. "Trust me, I use Symbology so much than anyone else."

"Right," Fox said as he focused harder.

Wolf looked at this little event. "Heh, this should be interesting to see..."

The vulpine focused harder as everyone stared at him.

5 minutes later...

Maria just couldn't understand the fact that nothing had happened after Fox began to focus 5 minutes ago. Normally, it'd take a person 5 seconds to cast Symbology, but it was so unclear that Fox couldn't even call forth the blue sphere on his right hand.

Confused at this, Peppita tilted her head. "What is wrong with you?" she asked confused before Fox stared at her, his hand still behind him. "You should have cast Healing a long time ago by now..."

"But..." Fox trailed off. "I am feeling the surge of Symbology running through me..."

"Really?" Sophia asked. "It looks like it's not manifesting by itself..."

Fox looked back at his hand where it was holding out air above it. Maria walked to Fox and stared closer at his hand. "...I don't feel any traces of Symbology on your hand..."

"I do feel that he has Symbology," Sophia pointed out. "Actually...it's there, but it doesn't want to come out."

"What?" Chris asked. "You mean to say Symbology is alive or something?"

Sophia shook her head. "No, but this is so weird. Symbology shouldn't do this kind of effect on you. I mean, you look like you could use magic very well...but what is keeping you from using Symbology?"

Fox looked down as he still tried to call forth Symbology. "(Wait...isn't this situation similar to the Black Magic?)" he thought.

Maria thought for a moment. "This is a very rare case of an individual not able to use Symbology when he has learned it... I guess this may as well be the first case of people not being able to use Symbology that easily..." She looked at Fox. "Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with the fact you come from another universe?"

"I don't think so," Fox said.

Wolf grunted a bit before he pulled his right hand over his left shoulder spiked pad, his claw glowing yellow. "Let me show you my own magic..." he muttered before he quickly held out his open claw forward. "Thunder!"

A small bolt of lightning crashed down on the floor, creating a black spot on it.

The lupine crossed his arms. "That magic isn't something I could learn in my own world, but I did learn it through other means."

Fox could only feel a bit of anger after seeing that Wolf could easily use Black Magic than himself. Maria merely stared at this, nodding several times as she tried to find an answer.

"Ooooh, this is just so confusing..." Peppita said.

The vulpine only sighed and pulled back his hand, stopping his focus on the magic as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Still, this situation is going to be tested more," Maria said. "I can't seem to find the answer behind this phenomenom that you have, Fox."

"Who cares about it..." Fox muttered in some depression. "I didn't want to learn magic that much, anyway..." He sighed again. "Whatever it is that it's keeping me from learning magic shouldn't be that bothering... If I can't learn magic, then I won't learn it. I like to fight physically than resorting to spells."

Peppita, Sophia, Chip, and Chris looked worried. Wolf and Sonic looked away, and Maria still thought about the reason behind the problem that Fox had.

However, the one that was more worried about Fox was Peppita. She knew very well that it was the right time to cheer him up. Maybe cheering him up would help her as well.

"No, Fox!" Peppita suddenly yelled. "I know you can do this!"

Fox kept staring away into the ruins far down below them.

"You just have to keep trying to do it!" Peppita cheered seriously. "Do you want this to defeat you? I know you're much stronger and devoted than that! Who knows, you could be formidable if you put your mind into it!"

"..." Fox frowned. "Please, don't say anything else to me. It's not like I'm interested anymore."

"B-but..." Peppita looked worried.

"Knock it off already, okay?"

The Velbaysian only looked down at the floor. "...Okay..." she muttered with a frown.

"Hmm..." Maria looked back at the staircases. "Since Fox doesn't want to talk about it anymore, we should start to explore the garden so we can find out about the temple."

"That...would be the best thing to do for now..." Chris commented as he looked at Fox.

"Lead the way..." Sonic said before Chris stared at him. "...Slowly..." he added woth a frown.

"Are we gonna have trouble with the monsters?" Chip asked.

"It shouldn't be that threatening," Maria said. "The enemies here are far weaker than anything outside. We shouldn't try to use much force of them." She started her way down the small staircase. "Okay, let's go."

Everyone else started their way down the staircase, leaving Fox behind close to the exit. The vulpine, even after he told them that he didn't want to learn magic, wanted to find out what was wrong with him. Fox knew well that he intervened with magic a long time ago, but he just couldn't understand the reason behind his problem.

Fox didn't notice that Peppita was still close to him. He didn't care about anyone for the moment, causing the Velbaysian to frown in shame and walk away from him.

However, Fox noticed that Wolf hadn't left yet. The lupine stared at him from the staircase, a look of seriousness in his face.

"..." Fox glared at him. "Go on ahead and laugh at me. You can use magic, but I can't use magic."

"..." Wolf merely glared back at him before he turned around and began to walk down the staircase.

The leader of Star Fox was waiting for a laugh, or even some chuckles, but he didn't expect Wolf to simply stare at him for a small period of time. He knew Wolf was going to mock him, but the leader of Star Wolf didn't do what Fox had in mind. Was Wolf thinking about a way to help him? Of course now, Wolf wasn't that kind to Fox.

There were so many confusing things in Fox's mind that he decided to shrug all of them off. Fox decided to join the others, pondering more about his personal problem.

Music stops

Trading Town of Peterny
Inn - Chris's Room

The day went on, and nothing much interesting happened. Night came too fast, and everyone had already gathered at the inn to rest for the day.

The party that went to explore the Aquatic Garden, for their dismay, didn't find anything new. They all found out that the Spagonia Temple wasn't inside the ruins. Maria decided to call of them back to Peterny once sunset came.

The party that was at the workshop worked hard to create and refine items. From what Chris heard from Samus, C. Falcon didn't work but rather talked with Mirage a lot. This little event only caused Cliff to grow suspicious about the racer before both of them began to talk with each other. The only amusing fact was that both guys had become fast friends. Samus even said they both did arm wrestling, and C. Falcon lost all the bouts due to Cliff's Klausian blood giving him insane strength.

Samus didn't want to say Mirage also played against him, and C. Falcon was knocked down with the first push Mirage gave him. Samus thought she shouldn't say more about it or else Doug's dignity would be destroyed.

As for the expedition group that went to the south...

"H-he's crazy!" Roy commented as he was shown sitting on Chris's bed. "H-He didn't take us to look for the temple, but he rather took us to the town where her daughter lived!"

"Roy, calm down," Chris said as he was shown sitting next to him to the right. "It shouldn't have been that bad with Adray..."

"O-oh, you're telling me!" Roy said as he shook in fear. "W-when we met her daughter, she got angry at Adray for doing what Nel told us about. H-however, when she left, Adray proceeded to go nuts on us and tried to cut our heads off!"

"..." Chris stared at him. "...Go on?"

"I-it was so crazy, I'm telling you..." Roy said. "Adray also tried to cut one of Pit's wings once he got a hand on him. Needless to say, Pit said he was going to have nightmares after he escaped in time, all alone by himself...but thing is, I received the most threatening event thanks to Pit running all the way back here!" he complained. "Adray's look turned so amused before he started to use that Symbology magic on me. I dodged stalagmites, fireballs, lightning blasts, stones falling from the sky, and let's not forget the huge water whale that almost crashed on me!"

"T-then what happened to Roger and Tails? I'm sure Roger should've tried to stop Adray..."

"That kid is evil, Chris," Roy muttered. "The only thing Roger did during the ordeal was crack up and point at us. He rolled around the floor laughing madly while Adray continued his rampage. As for the Tails, well, he was more clever than anyone so he left right after Adray took us to her daughter...I doubt Tails is old enough to marry someone, let alone a human..." He shook his head. "B-but I'm glad I made it back in one piece..."

Chris thought for a moment. "...And did Nel say anything about this?"

"Well, she didn't, but Clair did..." Roy said. "I was so lucky for her to appear right when I was cornered by that maniac she calls her father. They DON'T look alike at all. Clair got all angry and scolded Adray, and I took the opportunity to escape all alone by myself."

"It...must have been a real nightmare..." Chris commented.

Roy sighed. "At least Adray didn't come back...I pray Clair killed him..."

Chris looked oddly at him. "O-okay, I know Adray scares you a lot..."

"T-thanks..." Roy said before standing up. "Now, I'm going to go back to my room with Pit... We're going to lock the door if Adray comes back and tries to kill us off..."

Chris sweat dropped at this. "Okay...good night..."

"Likewise..." Roy muttered with a nod before he walked away, leaving Chris all alone in his room.

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "I wonder..." He looked hesitant. "I-is there a bathroom around here?"

Chris quickly stood up and ran away from his room in a hurry, leaving it all alone by itself with the door wide open.

However, the room's solitary atmosphere was soon finished after 2 figures walked into the room. The 2 figures were an excited Peppita with a worried Sophia. Apparently, Peppita had a new idea that she thought would work very well. As for Sophia, she was against it but couldn't try to change Peppita's cheerful mood.

"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" Sophia asked as Peppita looked underneath Fox's bed. "I-I mean, are you going to hide underneath his bed all the night?"

"Yep, that's the idea," Peppita said before she crouched and slipped underneath the bed. "Maybe I'm wrong, but Fox could talk to Chris when they're alone."

"T-that's just a prediction. You don't know if they really talk alone!" Sophia said as she looked back and forth between Peppita and the door.

"Please, Fox seems to be the social type," Peppita said under the bed before she turned around to stick her head out to look up at Sophia. "If I get a little bit of information about him, then it'll be easier to make him fall in love with me!"

"(Oh, please, when is she going to see that isn't going to happen?)" Sophia thought worried. Sophia wanted to tell Peppita what she thought about the whole deal of romance, but the teen wouldn't bring herself to hurt Peppita's feelings.

"Okay, leave," Peppita muttered. "They must be on their way here. Hurry up and leave!"

"B-but..." Sophia looked panicked.

"Just hurry, Sophia!" Peppita said.

"A-alright..." Sophia said with a frown before she ran out from the room, Peppita giggling happily.

"Okie-dokie," Peppita said to herself. "Now I need to avoid getting a flu under the bed while I listen to everything Fox says in private. Teeheehee, this is gonna be so much fun."

The Velbaysian suddenly saw the leader of Star Fox walking into room, still looking depressed after their investigation of the Aquatic Garden. Peppita gasped mentally as Fox walked to his bed and sat down, sighing a bit.

"(Time for Operation Fox to begin...)" Peppita thought.

Outside the bed, Fox stared outside as he stayed silent. By now, he wanted to do something to cheer him up himself. Fox thought that he could tell Chris more about his past with his dad now that they would be "alone" by themselves.

"What is wrong with me?" Fox asked to himself. "It's not like me to be this depressed. What the heck is keeping me from learning magic, anyway? I'm pretty sure I know how to use it because I've had those Krazoa Spirits entering my body when I was in Sauria...and let's not forget Krystal's Staff..."

Under the bed, Peppita nodded several times.

"I started to get a taste of magic back then..." Fox closed his eyes hard like he was struggling to resist something. "But that was a long time ago...I mean, what if that doesn't have anything to do with this?" he asked before opening his eyes, looking down at the floor where he removed his tanker boots. "That's the only good reason I could use magic...but...is it really relevant after I couldn't use Symbology either?"

Peppita gasped once she saw a white flight jacket fall on the floor, hearing the sound of Fox's headgear being put on the drawer as his back fell down on the bed quickly.

The vulpine stared up at the ceiling as he folded his arms behind his head. "I shouldn't make such a big deal about this..." he muttered. "...I don't know what's happening to me anymore..." he muttered even lower than before.

"(...Oooooooh, I barely understand anything he said about spirits and staffs...)" Peppita thought in disbelief.

Suddenly, Peppita heard the door closing. She looked to the door's direction where a relieved Chris walked to his bed and sat down. "I didn't think there was a variation of bathrooms in here," Chris said to Fox. "...But I rather not say what I did there..."

"WHERE THE F((BEEP) IS THAT LITTLE SON OF A B(BEEP) HIDING?! TELL ME NOW OR ELSE I'LL F(BEEP) YOU ALL BUT GOOD! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Chris grunted in annoyance as Tails and Chip were heard screaming loudly. "Ugh, not that little imbecile again!" he yelled before quickly changing to his Beastmaster job. The monster tamer left the room quickly as he ran all the way to Sonic's room. Fox could hear the echo of a whip's lash hitting the werehog before the World Traveler came back, sighing in relief as he closed the door and changed back to his Dragoon job. "Phew, he's gone for the time being..."

The vulpine stared him at him for a while. "I...guess..." Fox responded. "...Chris..."

"Yes?" Chris asked as he walked to his bed.

"I'm yet again bored for the night...but I wouldn't mind telling you the next part of my past with my father."

Peppita blinked a few times. "(His past with his father? Oh my, I struck gold!)" She made a happy expression. "(I didn't think I'd get to know about his father! I bet he was as handsome as Fox is...)"

At Fox's idea, the World Traveler smiled a bit before he took off his red jacket, red hat, and boots as he lay down on his bed. "Oh, please, do tell me. I'm excited to know even more about you."

Fox chuckled at this, now feeling more enthusiastic than before. "Well, thanks. I need to do something fun to do after what we did today."

Chris covered himself with his bed sheet. "Don't mind if I listen to you. Please, tell me more."

"You're getting excited like a kid, you know that?"

Chris blushed a bit. "I-I'm just excited, that's all..."

Peppita giggled mentally. "(Yep, same here if you ask me.)"

Fox chuckled even more. "Well, here we go, then..." He coughed a bit to clear his throat. "Peppy told me about all the things my father went through when I was a baby. He told me that my father was always in quite a fit to calm me down whenever I cried. Peppy also told me that my father slowly understood the ropes about raising babies by himself."

Peppita looked confused. "(Why did his dad raise him as a baby? Where was his mom back then?)"

"The dead of my mother really put him in trouble..." Fox said.

"(...His mom died?)" Peppita thought.

"But what happened after?" Chris asked. "I mean, what happened when you were a child?"

"Oh, that part?" Fox asked before chuckling. "That was one of my most precious memories I had with my father."

Flashback

Corneria
Great Fox - James's Room

Darkness covered a solitary room where some chuckles were heard. The metalic sliding door opened wide to reveal James looking around. The chuckles eventually stopped, James hearing one of them that made him grin.

"Okay, Fox," James began as he walked inside the dark room. "You can't fool me anymore, son. Get out from your hiding spot and confront your father."

There was no response as he looked around his room.

The room itself was mostly made out of steel and metal. Only the floor, walls, and ceiling were of hard metal. However, the room had drawers on walls, a closet to the left wall, a ventilation duct on the far right corner of the ceiling, and a small window to look outside at the starry night's sky. A big mattress adorned the metal floor, and a bed was touching the front and right wall. There were some pictures in some parts of the front, right, and back wall depicting James and Fox with some of the other people that they knew such as Peppy, Pigma, General Pepper, and even some of Fox's friends like a young Falco, a young Slippy, and a young Bill.

James chuckled as he walked forward, finding a small bump under the bed sheet. "Now, I wonder where is Fox?" he asked to himself in amusement as he stared down at the bump on his bed. "He better not be hiding on the bed."

James expected a response from the bump.

"..." James raised an eyebrow. "Let's see now..."

Wherever Fox was hiding, he waited for James to lift up the bed sheet. In truth, the young vulpine of 8 years was hiding behind the closet, trying his best to hide his small chuckles.

"You must be on the bed..." James was heard saying. "Or maybe...just maybe..."

Suddenly, the young vulpine gasped when the doors of the closet opened, revealing James looking down at him with a grin. The young vulpine quickly hid his face behind some flight jackets that James wore.

James chuckled as Fox hid his face from him. "Hmm, sir, have you seen a little kid hiding somewhere?"

"W-well," the young Fox chuckled. "N-no..."

"That's weird," James said before he slid the clothes hangers back, making Fox laugh a bit. "You look a lot like Fox."

"O-okay, I give up!" Fox said as he lifted up his hands. "You found me again, dad!"

"Get over here, you," James said as he grabbed his son from his sides and took him out from the closet. "So, you expected me to lose this time, huh?"

"Heheheheh," Fox chuckled as James put him on the floor. "I thought I was going to win for sure this time. How did you know I was hiding in there?"

James pointed at the bump on his bed. "I know for sure that bump doesn't even match your size," he said as he went to the bed and removed the bed sheet, revealing 2 pillows pilled up together. "I mean, last time I checked, my son had this problem of not staying still for 3 seconds, and he surely didn't have cotton inside him."

Fox chuckled once more. "Y-yeah, that's me, alright..."

James turned to him and sat down on the bed. "Okay, Fox, time to go to bed. Your dad has had a tough job today." He wiped some sweat from his face. "You're lucky I brought you here from Falco's house, Fox. I know you 2 are best friends, but I can't let you sleep in his house almost all the time. What if his parents get angry at me?"

"No, they don't," Fox said. "They don't mind if I stay with Falco. We talk so much with each other, you know."

"Yeah, but I can't just let you sleep in his house almost all the time," James said. "You understand it's been very rough to take care of you, right?"

Fox looked down. "...I know..." he said as he frowned. "You've been telling me from time to time that I can't go with you to any mission because I'm not old enough..." He walked to his father and looked up to him. "Why did mom abandon us?"

"...She didn't abandon us, Fox," James said as he patted the left side of where he was sitting to call Fox on the same spot. The young vulpine hopped and sat next to James. "There were...some circumstances that made her...well..." James looked away, Fox waiting for his answer. "...Well..."

"...So?" Fox asked.

James didn't want to tell Fox about James's wife. The past leader of Star Fox didn't want to make Fox feel uncomfortable.

"..." James looked back at Fox. "The circumstances made her go somewhere else because she needed to do it."

"What?" Fox asked.

"...Well, she told me not to tell you because..." James scratched his head. "...You need to be much stronger..."

"..." Fox tilted his head. "I need to be stronger to know what she didn't want me to know about her?"

"Yeah..." James said with a nod.

"..." Fox looked away. "...I gotta be stronger to know about it?"

"Um, yes..."

"...Heheh," Fox chuckled before he looked up at James. "Well, if she wants me to be stronger, I need to be as strong and cool like you, right?"

"(Oh, thank god Fox has a somewhat hyperactive imagination...)" James thought pleased before grinning at Fox. "Yeah, she wanted you to be just like your old man."

"Hey, you're not old," Fox said. "You look very young, dad."

"Well, thanks," James said as he rubbed Fox's head. "So anyway, are you ready to go to sleep?"

Fox wagged his tail a bit before he began to hop on his spot. "Tell me what you did today, dad! I want to know what adventure you had today!"

"Wow, wow, wow," James said as he stopped Fox from hopping by putting his hands behind his shoulders. "No need to react like that, Fox. You know very well I'm going to tell you the adventure I had today." James chuckled. "Remember the bothersome guy I told you about?"

"Hmm..." Fox thought for a moment. "...Oh, it's the Wolf bandit?"

"Right again as always," James said before sighing.

"It was around that time where my father met Wolf," Fox said. "My father first met Wolf when I was 6 years old. Most of the missions thatmy father took from General Pepper were almost always about Wolf doing some kind of thievery in any planet of the Lylat System."

"I see..." Chris said.

"Thing is, I met the guy for the 88th time," James explained. "Man, that guy sure has a lot of energy to go around the planets and fight me back."

Fox grunted. "Did you show him who was the boss?"

"Heheheheh, yeah, as always," James said with a grin. "He messes with me, he's bound to go home."

Fox chuckled. "What did he do to you this time?"

"Again, the same," James said. "He first tries to make a riot in a planet just to make General Pepper call me and do something about him. I swear, I shouldn't have taken that mission to Katrina where he wanted to steal one of the Corneria's army weaponry when I first had the encounter with him. Wolf's so darn headstrong..."

"But..." Fox looked serious. "You beat him down, right?"

"Yeah, but I'd say his temper makes him lose so easily," James said chuckling. "The day his temper stops interfering him will be the day where I'll have a decent battle against him."

"He doesn't give you a good fight?"

"Nah, he's always saying all the time "Play time's over, Star Fox," James said, trying to mimic Wolf's voice. "I should point out I'm the one who ends his play time, though."

Fox chuckled. "Dad, you're so cool."

"Am I now?" James asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Well, back with Wolf, he went down the same way as every single encounter. So I let him chase me, I do a loop, I appear behind him, then I start shooting him down."

Fox began to hop on his spot again. "Ooh, ooh, when are you going to let me ride an Arwing? I wanna have my own one and go around the sky fighting enemies and saving people like you do!"

"Hey, you need to grow a little bit more," James said as he pulled Fox to his left side under his left shoulder. "You need to look tougher than you are now."

"Pfft, I'm really tough," Fox said annoyed. "Why, I can beat Falco with rock, paper, scissors."

"Remember, I was just a kid back then. Don't laugh at me because of that," Fox said.

James hid a chuckle. "Just because you defeat Falco through that game doesn't mean you know how to fight in an Arwing, Fox."

"Then what do I need to have in order to be as strong as you are, dad?"

James began to raise fingers. "You gotta have maturity, a smart mind, confidence in your own actions, and you have to be respectful to a lot of people who are much more important than you."

Fox blinked. "Are there any people who are more important than you?"

"There's General Pepper," James said.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Seriously, is that guy more important than you? Has he ever rode an Arwing before?"

"No, but that's not the point here, Fox," James said. "General Pepper is a very respectable commander of the Corneria Army. He knows what to do in order to ensure peace in the Lylat System."

"You do more of ensuring the peace around than him."

"Look, the point is that General Pepper knows his thing," James said. "He gives me my jobs as well."

"..." Fox thought for a moment. "...If I become one of the members of Star Fox...am I going to receive orders from him?"

James chuckled. "No, you're going to receive orders from me, which are going to be orders from General Pepper himself. In a few words, you're gonna work for me."

"...I see!" Fox said excited. "If it has you in it, it's surely going to be so awesome!"

James rubbed Fox's head faster. "That's how things are, Fox." As he rubbed Fox's head, James suddenly yawned loudly. "Well, time to hit the pillow, Fox..."

Fox suddenly yawned aloud. "Yeah...I'm sleepy..." he muttered.

James decided to prepare the bed for him and Fox as James took out his sunglasses. Once he did, both were already lying down on the bed and close to each other. However, James felt asleep first than Fox who was staring at the ceiling.

James opened an eye to see his son awake. "Fox, go to sleep."

Fox turned his head at him. "But...I don't want to..."

"Weren't you saying you were going to sleep?"

"Yeah, but I suddenly lost my boredom..." Fox chuckled. "I was thinking about my future in Team Star Fox!"

James sat up and grinned. "You're going to wait until I sign you up for the Cornerian Flight Academy, Fox. There, they are going to set you up very good. I took the course there, and I'm now what I am today."

Fox's eyes widened. "Is there the place where people turn so cool like you?"

James chuckled. All Fox thought about was to turn into a cool person. "Yeah, that's the place where you think that happens."

"Yay!" Fox rejoiced. "When am I going to join the academy?"

"I'll tell you when, okay?" James asked with a wink (it should be said by this point that it was literally impossible to see James's eyes due to the fact the scene was being looked from behind James). "Keep studying the basics before you jump to the most advanced stuff."

Fox nodded. "Good, then I'll tell Falco."

"Falco?" James asked. "What about him?"

"Didn't I tell you? He's a rabbid fan of yours," Fox said with a chuckle. "He's heard a lot about your deeds that he's always asking me where you're going so he knows before anyone else than me. I think he likes the fact you ride an Arwing, though. He likes to draw lots of 'em in his room."

"...I see, heh," James said amused.

"I think Slippy respects you a lot as well, but he's into machine stuff," Fox said. "When we grow up, we're gonna all join Team Star Fox!"

"...What?"

"Yeah, that's our shared dream," Fox said excited. "All of us want to join your team, dad. We all think that Team Star Fox is the best team there is!"

"Hahahahaha," James laughed a bit. "I see now. Well, I'll be the one judging your performances to see if you're up for it."

Fox looked serious at him. "Just you wait, dad. I'm gonna be as cool as you."

James nodded a few times before he recalled something. "Weren't we going to sleep?"

"..." Fox smiled nervously. "Can we talk some more?"

"No can do," James said. "I have some important missions to do tomorrow morning, and I need to drop you off with Falco yet again. I hope his parents don't get angry. That aside, I need to wake up early tomorrow to take you to him, then I'll need to leave for Katina."

"Okay..." Fox said a little bit depressed. "...But I don't feel like sleeping..."

James rubbed his chin. "I need to do something about it or else it'll bother me all the night..." Suddenly, he got an idea. "Hey, I know," he said as he looked at one drawer on the wall. The father pulled it to take out from it a brown book that he showed to Fox. "See this book?"

Fox narrowed his eyes to look at the book's title. "...Tales of Star Ocean?"

James nodded as he closed the drawer. "Yeah, this is a fairy tales' book that Peppy lent me some days ago."

"..." Fox looked confused. "What was Peppy doing with that? Isn't that for children?"

"Well, yeah, it is for children, but he happened to pick it up by accident at the library," James admitted. "Although I don't know what he was doing in the children's section. Maybe it was a shortcut to where he wanted to go? Thing is, I forgot why he had this with him."

Fox gasped. "Peppy steals children's books! Call the police!"

James laughed a bit. "No, Peppy doesn't steal books, Fox. Stop exaggerating."

"Are you sure he doesn't steal books?"

"...Not really," James said before he shook his head. "I mean, calm down, Fox. Do you want me to read you this so you can sleep?"

"It looks boring..." Fox muttered.

"If you think books are boring, then that certainly proves you did bad at your math test," James pointed out, making Fox look away embarrassed as he blushed. "Certainly 5 plus 5 doesn't equal 2 fives."

"Hey, Chris, stop chuckling!" Fox yelled.

"S-sorry..." Chris muttered.

"I-I take that back," Fox said as he looked at James. "I-I want you to read the book."

James grinned. "So I don't keep reminding you about your previous grades? You're not going to become like me if you do-"

"Alright, alright, I'll study! Geez, I don't see why my grades are important..." Fox said annoyed.

"I know you're going to pass with honors," James said before he coughed to clear his throat as he opened the book. "Well, let's see what we have here..."

The young vulpine rested his head on the pillow. "What's the story about?"

"Hmm, let's see..." James took a closer look. "...Hey, would you like to hear fairy tales about galactic wars?"

"Wait, it has that?" Fox asked. "Ooh, ooh, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"What do you know, they do tales like inspired by real events," James said. "This is ought to be interesting to read..."

"Can you read it to me?" Fox asked with some excitement. "If it has galactic wars, I wanna listen to them!"

James chuckled amused. "Alright, Fox, I'll read you this book, but you'll have to promise you're going to sleep."

"Okay!"

"Right, then," James said before he started to read the book. "A very long time ago in the future..."

The young Fox listened silently as James narrated him the book's tale. The young vulpine made a happy expression as his father's eyes read every sentence of the book. Sometimes, James would as far as to change his voice to pull Fox's curiosity into the tale, but this only made Fox laugh silently since many of his voices didn't come out so serious but funny instead.

"That's where you got the book from?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Fox said. "When my father read the book for me, Peppy had to give it back to the library. I was upset after the book was returned so I asked my father to buy it somewhere else. Thing is, I liked the book very much," he explained. "I could say the book's tales easily outmatched some of my father's own adventures. I didn't tell him that, though. After I found out that this place was related to the book...I wanted to come here and see this universe by myself..."

"(Heheheh, so he wanted to come here because of a fairy tale? That's so cute of him,)" Peppita thought happily.

"Anyway, back to where I was..."

"'You can do this to me!' yelled the woman. 'What will happen to me?!' she demanded. Turning around, the young commandant said to her, 'I don't care for those who hurt others through unnecessary violence who later plead for forgiviness. You should have thought better about your actions for the people of this underdeveloped planet, insolent fool.'"

"Zzz..."

James looked back at Fox. The young vulpine had already fallen asleep deeply. Chuckling a bit to himself, James put the book back in the drawer before he laid down next to his sleeping son. "Guess you couldn't bear to see the ending just yet," James muttered. "That's the ending of chapter 2, though."

With a long yawn, the previous leader of Star Fox felt asleep, a grin on his face appearing.

The next day...

Early in the morning, a half-asleep Fox came out from the sliding door as his father put his clothes on. The young vulpine looked up to find Peppy already awake.

"Oh, good morning, Fox," Peppy said.

"Good morning..." Fox said grogily. "...Booknapper..."

Peppy looked at no one in particular after hearing the word from Fox who decided to go back to the room, the door closing behind him as Peppy looked still confused.

Trading Town of Peterny
Inn - Chris's Room

"So that's a part of the story," Fox said.

"That was exciting to listen," Chris said pleased. "You had a very fun childhood, right?"

"Like hell I did," Fox said with a grin. "When I was that young, I found out I liked sports when I was in school. My father told me I was a very good kicker from some private lessons he taught me when he had days off. Once, I hit the ball so hard accidentally to his face that he ended up getting knocked out on the ground. I gasped and went to check on him before he looked up to me and told me that I had a pretty strong kick...but he looked pretty well even if his right eye was bleeding. I told him not to wear his sunglasses, but he never listened..."

The dragoon stared at Fox.

"...I told him not to," Fox said, lifting his shoulders a bit.

"..." Chris yawned suddenly. "Oh well, thanks for telling more about you, Fox... What else is there?" He turned his head around to look away.

Fox thought for a moment. "...The last part was when the incident with Andross started..."

The World Traveler suddenly looked shocked.

"I think you know what happened there, but maybe you don't know how I received the news about what happened to my father..."

Peppita blinked a few times. "(Wait, something happened to his father? What would that be?)"

Fox let out a yawn. "But I don't feel that energetic enough to tell you for tonight...I want to sleep now..."

"..." Chris closed his eyes. "Okay, I understand... Good night, Fox..."

"Night, Chris..." Fox said before he slowly felt asleep with the World Traveler.

The Velbaysian under the bed shifted her eyes a bit. "(Okay, that helps, I think...)" she thought pleased. "(Maybe I can do it better tomorrow. Better think about what to do... Hmm...)"

"Fox..." Chris muttered with a chuckle.

"What...?" Fox asked without opening his eyes.

Chris chuckled a bit. "...What's 5 plus 5?"

"...Shut up and go to sleep already..." Fox said annoyed.

"Heheheh...sorry..." Chris muttered.

"(Teehee...)" Peppita chuckled mentally at the joke.

The 3 characters decided to sleep for the night...

[DededeCloneChris]

Dream

Final Fantasy IX - Kingdom of Burmecia

"...When is he going to come and get me?" The young Fox asked to himself as he looked up. "...It's getting late..."

The same dream that happened the last night once again came back. Fox found himself standing below the same tree where he was leaning his back. He looked around to see the abandoned playground as heavy rain fell down. The young boy embraced himself as he started to get shivers from the cold weather. Fox asked himself why he was wearing a simple shirt and shorts.

Fox looked at himself. He had several mud patches all over his clothes. He thought that he was surely playing soccer due to the fact there was a soccer ball by his left side, some drops falling on it.

The vulpine shivered and sat down where he embraced himself even more. Looking around, he wanted to see if there was someone else out there so he wouldn't feel alone. Unfortunately, the rain didn't let him hear or see anyone close.

"I-I'm not alone, am I?" he asked to himself. "W-where's my dad? H-he promised he would come back..."

Suddenly, his small ears perked up as he began to hear some sobs from nearby. Fox looked around the playground to see the source of the sobs when he found a human kid of his same age sobbing under a slide just in front of him, several feet away. The boy was embracing his legs as his face looked down behind them, preventing Fox from seeing the boy's face.

Since Fox didn't have any other choice to go somewhere else, he slowly stood up. "H-hey, you!"

The boy didn't seem to respond to him.

"Hey, you, I'm talking to you!" Fox yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

The boy only kept sobbing to himself. The young vulpine looked worried as he looked around before he actually went to see the boy closer by running all the way to him. Once he reached under the slide, Fox knelt down to see the kid. Upon a closer look, the black-haired boy of his age wore a light blue shirt with red shorts and black sneakers. "Hey, are you okay?"

"...N-no..." the boy finally replied between sobs.

"Why are you here?" Fox asked. "Why are you sobbing? Why are you alone in here?"

"I-I don't know my way home..." the boy replied."I-I don't know how I ended up here..."

"What?" Fox looked worried. "You got lost and you don't know your way home?"

The boy suddenly started to cry, making Fox gasp. "N-no!" the boy cried as he shook his head, his face still looking down. "I-I don't where I am! I-I don't know where my home is anymore! I-I want my dad and mom here!" he yelled.

"C-calm down, okay?" Fox asked as he put a hand on the boy's back. "I-I'm sure your parents are going to come for you..."

The boy didn't look at Fox, but he wanted to ask him something. "W-who are you and what are you doing here as well?"

Fox shivered a bit. "M-my name is Fox...a-and I'm here because there was a soccer practice 2 hours ago...but my dad told me he was going to come and get me..."

"...And did he come?"

"No... Not yet..." Fox muttered. "...I'm sure he was going to get me...but I don't want to go alone to my house because it's far away from here by foot..."

"...I see..." the boy muttered between some sobs. "...I'm so scared of going alone to my home...but I don't know the way back..."

"I'm sorry..." Fox said. "...I barely know you so I don't know where you live... By the way, what's your name?"

"...Chris..."

"...Okay...Chris..." Fox said. "...I don't know what to do...but maybe I could ask my dad to give you a ride home..."

"...And...would he get rid of the monster in here?"

Fox blinked at this question. "Wait, monster? There's a monster around here?"

"Y-yes..." the young Chris muttered. "I-I wanted to go somewhere else...b-but then that thing appeared from the ground and it tried to hurt me..."

Fox looked up at the slide. "That's why you're hiding under here?"

"Y-yes...the monster doesn't attack me if I'm hiding here..." the boy explained before he sobbed. "B-but I don't know if it doesn't hurt me because I'm here..."

"Did you run away from it?"

"Yes, I made my way here when I lost it around the trees..." the young Chris muttered. "...It's surely looking for me..."

Fox gulped. "How does that monster look?"

"W-well, it looks big, it's all black with blue and purple, it has these pincers, and its eyes are so white that it's so scary..." Chris explained.

The young Fox looked around to see if the monster was nearby. "This isn't good, then..."

Suddenly, in front of them, a shadow spot appeared on the mud before a creature jumped out of it and made Fox yelp. The creature before them was in fact a Nightmare, the same monster that appears during the nights.

Once the Nightmare screeched loudly, Chris stared to shake in fear, his face still looking down. "I-It's here, isn't it?! D-do something to get rid of it, please! I-I don't want to look at it!"

The young Fox stared up at the Nightmare in complete fear. Once the Nightmare looked down at him, his legs shook, his hands twitched, and his eyes trembled in fear, reflecting the monster's image on them. The young vulpine suddenly covered his head and began to scream loudly. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!"

"D-DO SOMETHING, I BEG OF YOU, PLEASE!" Chris yelled loudly while the monster screeched menacingly, the dream suddenly covering itself in hazy mist that made Fox's vision get blurry...

Music stops

Inn - Chris's Room

The night still went on, and Fox grumbled to himself as he moved his head a bit to the sides, not noticing that the same figure from before was stalking them from behind the door to the room.

The figure then decided to walk away, muttering words in silence.

The next morning...

"...Ugh..." Fox grumbled a bit as he slowly opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling before he rubbed his head. "That dream again..." he muttered to himself as he slowly sat up. "What the heck was it? It was the same one, that's for sure..."

The vulpine looked back at the sleeping Chris. Something that Fox noticed was the fact that Chris's face looked like it was a little bit saddened. Fox raised an eyebrow at this expression.

"(Weird, he looks a little bit different than before... Maybe I'm just thinking too much...)" Fox thought before he stared forward. "..." He sighed with a frown. "Whatever, I need to do my routine again..."

Underneath the bed, a sleepy Peppita slowly opened her eyes to see Fox's white furred feet touching the floor before he went over in front of the beds where he began to do pushups. Seeing this exercise, Peppita's eyes suddenly opened wide before she giggled a bit. "(There he goes again,)" she thought. "Teeheehee..."

As Fox did pushups, his eyes were looking a little bit weak. He didn't have control of his head for a moment as he looked around the floor where he found nothing but some eyes looking at him from under the bed. The vulpine frowned to himself before he recalled the eyes, making him lose his focus and fall down on the floor with a grunt. "Hey, who's there?!" Fox asked as he looked under the bed.

Peppita suddenly gasped at this reaction as Fox's glaring eyes looked at her. "E-er, there's nothing under the bed. Y-you're probably imagining things and stuff..."

Fox's eyes narrowed to the point they looked menacingly serious.

"...Good morning?" Peppita said sweating.

Quickly, Fox quickly stood up and walked to the bed where he knelt down and inspected whoever was under it. Upon looking underneath, the eyes were quickly covered by Peppita's hands. "What the hell?" Fox asked. "You?"

"...Whoever you're talking to, she's not here," Peppita said behind her hands. "Please try to talk with Peppita once she comes back and..." She stopped talking. "...Oh, fiddlesticks..."

"Okay, get out there right now," Fox demanded as he stood up with crossed arms.

"A-are you sure it's safe out there?" Peppita asked. "I mean, the floor here feels soft..."

"Out, now."

"I-I found money here. I-I don't want to let go of it..."

"Out...now...or else..."

"..." Peppita sighed disappointed before she slowly came out from below the bed. Once she looked up at Fox's glaring look, she quickly looked away as she stood up, folding her arms behind her back.

"Tell me, what were you doing down there?" Fox asked as he looked down at her.

"I-I..." Peppita didn't want to tell him the truth. "W-well, I..."

"How long have you been in there?"

"...I-I've been in there since morning..." Peppita admitted.

"Are you really sure you were there since morning?" Fox asked. "I didn't hear the door open."

Peppita looked up at him from the corner of her eyes. "A-are your ears that sensitive?"

"..."

"...Well...I better go away for now..." Peppita muttered as she slowly began her way to the door.

Fox closed his eyes. "...Wait right there."

Peppita's feet came to a halt as she stared at the door. "Y-yes, Fox?"

"...You've been here since last night...right?"

Peppita gasped mentally. "I-I..."

"I could have sworn there was someone nearby chuckling and giggling," Fox said. "At first, I thought it was outside, but I didn't think there was someone under my own bed. That was you, right?"

"..."

"I won't hurt you if that's what you're thinking I'm going to do to you."

"..." Peppita looked down. "...Yeah, that was me..."

"And I can assume you heard everything I talked with Chris as well, correct?"

"...Yeah..."

"And you heard everything."

"..." Peppita nodded.

"..." Fox opened his eyes and nodded. "Okay, now get out. Whatever you heard from us, don't tell it to anybody; absolutely no one needs to know about this private conversation, you got that?"

"...Yes sir..." Peppita muttered in shame before she opened the door and left, closing it behind her back.

The vulpine stared at the door for a while before he sighed and frowned. Suddenly, Chris began to mumble a bit before he woke up. "...Fox?"

"Good morning, Chris," Fox said a little bit mad as he went to get his clothes. "Did you sleep well or what?"

Chris looked groggily, but he didn't want to question why Fox was a little bit angry. "...To be honest...no..." he said as Fox put his jacket on. "I had some sort of weird nightmare where I was hiding from a monster..."

Before Fox could reach for his tanker boots, he stopped once hearing about Chris's nightmare.

"...And I was all alone in some sort of playground when it was raining so much...that's all I can remember..."

Fox looked a bit shocked at this.

Chris looked at him as he rubbed his eyes a bit. "Is there something wrong?"

"...Nothing...nothing's wrong..." Fox reassured him before he continued to put on his boots. "(Okay, now that's odd. That nightmare Chris had surely wasn't the same I had, right? It's surely pure coincidence that it was very similar... Well, he didn't say I was there so... Yeah, I think I'm overreacting a bit...)"

"...I see..." Chris said. "Well, let's do our best to find that temple today..."

Inn - Lobby

The small lobby of the inn had 2 reception counters located in front and to the left of the entrance. There was nobody there, except for a depressed Peppita on a circular table where she rested her chin on her hands on the table. Sighing, she tried to think about what happened a moment ago. "Geez, what a way to mess everything..." she muttered as she looked down. "Now he's gonna hate me for stalking on him through the whole night..."

From the right hallway, the person who she didn't want to see the most came in, looking bored as always before he looked to her on the table.

"If it isn't the maggot circus girl..." Albel said.

Peppita pouted a bit and looked away. "Go away, Albel. I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Figures," Albel said. "You're not always like this every morning. You're usually acting like a parrot, jumping and swinging those spheres of yours around."

"Good, thanks for pointing out what I normally do every morning," Peppita said annoyed. "If you'll excuse me, I have to resolve this problem I have."

"What would that problem be?"

"Like I'm going to tell you I like Fox so much," Peppita said bored. "I mean, I'm not going to tell you I had an accident with him today."

"...You just told me your problem..."

Peppita blinked a few times before looking embarrassed. "...No, I didn't tell you just now..."

"Fool," Albel said. "Your mouth sometimes spill the better stuff you don't really want to talk about."

"..." Peppita's lips twitched a bit.

"Whatever, it's not like I care about romance or anything," Albel said.

"T-that's sort of mean, you know..." Peppita said before looking at him. "I know you haven't experienced love before, but you don't need to say that."

"Tsk," Albel said with a frown. "So what, are you going to make your future husband some breakfast so he accepts whatever accident you did to him?"

"I'm NOT going to make breakfast for Fox just because you'r-" Peppita's yell suddenly stopped as she thought about what Albel just told her. "...Wait...make Fox breakfast so he accepts my apology?"

"Maggot, what are you thinking now?"

"...That's not a bad idea..." Peppita remarked as she rubbed her chin a bit, looking up at the ceiling. "Yeah, that's a very nice idea... I heard that if you want to get to someone's heart you first need to pass through the stomach..."

"What?" Albel asked confused.

Peppita giggled and looked at him. "Albel, that idea sounds very good to me! I know I hate your guts a lot, but you really did give me more chances to do what I want to do."

"What the heck are you talking about now?" Albel asked. "I merely said my opinions about how romance is very cheesy and sappy an-"

"No need to lose more time now," Peppita said as she gave Albel a serious look. "I need to make this fast before Fox goes away from here. I need to do some breakfast for him, and then I'll get to his heart through his stomach."

Albel looked a very little bit disgusted at Peppita's plan.

Peppita hopped off her seat and started her way to the workshop. "I better hurry and make a fast breakfast. Albel, thank you so much for the idea, it's surely going to help me a lot!"

Before the captain of the Black Brigade could say anything to the Velbaysian, Peppita had already run away to the workshop where she entered and quickly went to the Cooking area.

Albel looked up and frowned to himself. "The mind of a naive child..." he muttered."I wish this doesn't involve me in some fashion..."

Inn - Chris's Room

Back on the room, Fox, alone by himself, cracked his fists a bit before someone knocked on the door. The vulpine looked at the door before he went to open it. Upon looking at who was it, the vulpine looked bored. "What do you want now?"

There was an ashamed Peppita holding a plate with curry. The Velbaysian looked up at Fox and showed him the curry. "Please, I'm sorry for what I did to you, Fox..." Peppita said. "So...please, accept this breakfast I made for you as an apology..."

Fox stared at the curry. The steam that came out from it went all the way to his nose where he sniffed it a bit. "You made this for me?"

"Y-yeah," Peppita said. "I-I'm not pretty good at cooking but I wanted to do my best...just for you..." She blushed a bit. "P-please, take it."

The vulpine slowly grabbed the plate, the spoon already in the rice.

Peppita smiled a bit and bowed to Fox. "Okay, I hope you like it, Fox." The Velbaysian turned around and walked away happily.

Fox looked confused at this before he smiled a bit at the curry and began to eat it. At that moment, Chris came from the left side of the hallway where he found Fox already eating the curry. "Are you having curry?" Chris asked.

Suddenly, once the spoon was inside his mouth, Fox stopped eating the curry as his eyes dilated and his tail pointed straight up behind his back. The dragoon watched as the vulpine fell down on his back, the curry falling all over his vest as Fox's head turned to the right, his tongue sticking out a bit.

"F-Fox!" Chris gasped as he knelt down to see the knocked out expression of the leader of Star Fox. "O-oh my god, are you okay? Fox! D-did that curry do something to you?"

The World Traveler looked at some leftovers on the curry's plate. With a finger, he ran it on the plate so he could have a taste of it. "Hmm..." He looked shocked. "A-as far as I know, curry isn't supposed to be so sweet...literally... It should be spicy, but this curry is so sweet..."

Chris felt a little bit sick.

"Ugh, it's also a little bit sickening...and Fox took like 8 servings of it..." He looked at Fox. "...Now what am I going to do?"

The World Traveler heard some footsteps coming from the hallway. Chris saw as a whistling Roger walked nearby. "Doodydo, the man's awake, doodydo, it's another day, doodydo, who wants the man, doodydo..."

When Roger stopped on his tracks and looked to his right to see Chris and the knocked out Fox, he walked inside to see the curry spilling over his clothes.

"...Dude, you killed him with food?" Roger asked.

"W-what? N-no, I didn't kill him with food!" Chris argued.

"Hey, Fayt! This guy killed the fox dude with food poisoning!" Roger yelled before he ran away, screaming the same sentence over and over again. "FAYT!"

"Y-you little..." Chris muttered before he stood up and began to go after Roger. "C-come back here, you!"

As the corpse...I mean, as Fox was left behind on the floor, an amused Wolf appeared from the hallway and looked down at him. With a chuckle and a grin, Wolf started to say something. "Breakfast sometimes can kill you, huh?" he asked.

"..." Fox didn't respond.

"Tsk..." Wolf frowned with another chuckle as he walked away.

Workshop

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Let's Item Creation!!

Back at the workshop, there was a different arrangement of inventors that worked busily in teams to create the most invaluable items. It was not worth mentioning most of them. However, the only inventor that stayed behind from the previous line of inventors was the easy-to-get-angry Puffy who wanted to share items with the amused Wolf, Chilico who wanted to finish her own affairs in the workshop, and Misty Lear who was trying to create a material of synthesis while helping Pit.

As Fayt was sitting down on the counter where he wrote some files in patents, he looked to his right where he saw a red patch of curry on Fox's green vest as the vulpine looked at him with crossed arms. "Oh, hi. What happened to you?"

"This happened because someone named Peppita gave me Super-Sweet Curry for breakfast," Fox responded annoyed with a glare.

"She did what?" Fayt asked before standing up. "She knows very well she can't cook so good."

"Well, she tried, and I got the result through digestion," Fox said. "Now I hate the fact that there isn't any kind of laundry machines in this planet. Do you really think I'm going to be walking around while my vest smells like sweet curry?"

"...No..." Fayt said.

"Good," Fox said as he smiled sarcastically. "Tell her to stay away from me."

Fayt looked worried. "Wow, I haven't seen you making that face before, but then again it's hard to tell whether you're glaring or look-" Fayt stopped talking once Fox glared menacingly at him. "...Did something else happen between you and Peppita?"

"Nothing much, except for the fact she slept and stalked me under the bed during the whole night."

"What?"

"That's the whole truth," Fox said. "Care to hear more?"

As Fox explained everything to Fayt, some feet away from him, there was C. Falcon putting his left arm on the counter as it was grabbed by Mirage who was sitting in front of him. "I think I like you," C. Falcon said. "I like tough women, you know."

"Heheh, thanks," Mirage chuckled. "Is it okay for you to play arm wrestling against me?"

"Meh, what can I say, I like challenges, especially when they look tough," C. Falcon said with a wink.

Mirage smiled a bit. "Okay, do you want me to start?"

"Don't mind if I do."

"3, 2, 1, go."

As soon as Mirage said go, C. Falcon was quickly forced to fall down on the stone floor hard after Mirage pushed down his arm. The woman Klausian looked down at him.

"...You win..." C. Falcon said with a chuckle. "Oww..."

From the Smithery area, Cliff was banging a big hammer against a red glittering sword. The Klausian stopped for moment to see Mirage and C. Falcon close to the counter. "Hey, Mirage, don't go easy on him, you heard me? You better not show him some sympathy either!" he said before laughing a bit.

Mirage shook her head, her face still amused. "Don't worry, Cliff. I have everything under control here."

"Very funny..." C. Falcon muttered with a chuckle. "(Even with the gauntlets she gave me yesterday...she's still so strong...)" he thought as he looked at his gauntlets over his yellow gloves. "(...I so like this place...)" C. Falcon raised a finger in the air. "Rematch..."

Mirage chuckled. "Very well, then."

In the Crafting area, a bored Roger looked all the way to the Cooking area where Peppita talked with the busy Sophia. The Menodix, as he was using a microscope to check on a small piece of stone, grumbled a bit. "There she goes again, trying to get someone else to like her," Roger muttered bored. "Man, when is she going to get back to work?" He looked at the red boots over the table; the Boots of Prowess. "We need more of these so we can kick butt out there."

"Busy, busy, busy!" Chilico said as she flew over Roger several times.

"And again, it's hard to get a decent conversation with someone like you," Roger said with a sigh. "Er, whatever, I'm going back to work."

Meanwhile, in the Compounding area, Puffy looked proud of herself as she had several devices spread across the table, an amused Wolf staring at the devices. The malevolent inventor grabbed a small white bag that she hopped on her palm. "See this little baby I have here? It's one of my most successful inventions. It's the Grabbag Stun Bomb-R2."

"Interesting," Wolf said a little bit sarcastically at the bag. The lupine didn't really think the bag was. "What does it do?"

"You'll be surprised," Puffy said with a chuckle. "This bag releases a bad smell that stuns the enemy, lowers its defense to a total of 30 percent, and also produces some secondary effects that are somewhat dangerous," she said before smirking. "However, I know there are bastards out there who like to be oh so immune to these kinds of items, so I went ahead, and I made sure this item affects even bosses."

Wolf grinned at her. "Does it really affect bosses?"

"If you see them gagging, then the item worked. However, I'm not saying it's not going to work. It really does affect any boss out there. Those bastards think they're so darn awesome to not be affected by items, huh? Well, guess what, they better think twice before they drop on the floor and gag uncontrollably," Puffy said with a snicker. "Just toss it at your enemy and the bag will do its work. Watch them gag as they get instantly paralyzed because they won't move to fight anymore...for around 10 seconds."

"So, are you planning in giving me one of those?"

Puffy looked away amused. "Of course, you're the only one here besides Fayt and the others to praise my explosives in battles." She hopped the bag to Wolf's right claw. "Go ahead and take it with you. You can take 4 more of them if you'd like." She pointed at 4 more bags of the table. "I have a big supply of them already. I won't mind if you take the 4 bags."

Wolf chuckled as he looked down at the bags. "These bags look ridiculous, but I guess it doesn't hurt to test them out."

"Heheheh, you won't regret this, I assure you," Puffy said darkly as the lupine decided to grab the small bags that he hid behind his vest.

In the Alchemy area, as Pit examined a black stone, the door of the workshop suddenly slammed wide open as he heard the sounds of wooden Japanese sandals entering. The angel from Skyland suddenly stopped working as he looked shocked. In the Smithery area, Roy stopped as well as he dropped a sword on the floor by accident.

"Hmm?" Misty Lear looked at Pit. "Master Pit, why did you stop working?"

"T-there's this feeling of danger that tells me I'm going to die a slow but painful death..." Pit muttered. "...And that feeling has a name..."

Misty Lear chuckled heartily. "I know what you mean."

"Y-you really do?"

Misty Lear nodded. "I am looking for the souls of my late husband and daughter through alchemy. That feeling of death has been around me for a long time now. I'm sure you're going to get used to that feeling very soon, Master Pit."

Whatever the heck Misty Lear told Pit didn't make him feel any better. Worse yet, Pit started to think Misty Lear was a little bit crazy. However, this didn't have much to do with the person that came from the door.

There was Adray, his mustache making some sort of smile as he looked with his right black eye the workshop, focusing on both Pit and Roy who refused to look at him after the incident of yesterday. He was surely beaten up by his own daughter Clair after Roy managed to escape from the town to the southwest of Peterny.

"Oh, there they are," Adray said chuckling before he began his way around the counter. Pit and Roy had developed the strange ability to sense the muscular old man approaching. They didn't want to look back and just continued working in their own affairs. "They think I'm going to forget the fact they didn't say yes or no to Clair, well, I'm going to make them say what I want to he-" The old man suddenly stopped walking as he looked at an amused Nel in front of him. "...Hi."

"Hi," Nel said bored before she crossed her arms. "I heard from some sources that there was an incident at Arias where Clair was," she said. "Surely that incident had something to do with a person I know that's standing right in front of me."

"E-er, where did you hear something stupid as an incident at Arias?" Adray asked as he looked away. "I-I was conducting an expedition to the south to find that Spagonia Temple those guys were talking about."

"LIES, ALL LIES!" Roy and Pit yelled without turning around.

Nel raised an eyebrow. "I've got a letter from Clair herself this morning saying that you went around in a rampage to get Pit and Roy to marry Clair. She also told me you didn't care about the people who got in the way of your crazy frenzy of Symbology attacks. Thanks to you, Arias was left even more destroyed than before when the war first started."

Adray scratched his head. "Meh, my daughter was surely saying random things. Don't listen to her, okay?"

"Oh, I'd listen to her before you," Nel said. "Explain to me where you got those black eyes for example."

"I-I tripped on my way here where 2 rocks were conveniently placed a little bit apart from each other..."

"If that did happen, then your eyes should have taken worse damage than they are now."

"..." Adray sighed. "Fine, fine, I was the one who did the rampage..."

"Good to hear some honesty," Nel said. "Now, stay away from those 2 or else I'm telling Clair about your reckless behavior. She has clarified to you at least 46 times that she doesn't want to marry yet."

Adray looked down. "Yes, Nel, I heard you..."

"Now, go to your area and start working in Smithery."

Adray recalled Roy was in that area. He hid a smile.

"And if you start a conversation with Roy, I'll make sure Clair knows about this as well."

Adray's smile suddenly vanished as he frowned.

"Well then, go and be quiet for once," Nel said, hearing some sighs from both Pit and Roy.

In the Cooking area, a worried Peppita looked up at Sophia.

"Sophia, I think I screwed up with the room plan," Peppita said worried as Sophia stirred a ladle in the soup in front of her. "When he found me while he was doing his pushups, he told to get away from him...and his face looked kinda scary..."

"(Oooh, I wanted to tell her not to do that...but I just couldn't see her look down...)" Sophia thought as she looked at the pot with the soup. "Well, did you apologize to him?"

"Well, yeah, I did," Peppita said. "I apologized to him by making him breakfast."

Sophia knew Peppita was going to go to big heights just for Fox.

"And...what did you make for him?" Sophia asked.

Peppita rubbed her chin. "I made some kind of curry. I made sure it was sweet enough for him."

"Oh, I see..." Sophia said. "...Wait, you made some kind of curry that was sweet?"

"...Um, is sweet a kind of taste?"

"Yeah."

"..." Peppita looked away. "...Was it right for me to make the curry super sweet?"

Sophia stopped stirring the ladle and looked at Peppita. "Peppita, what did you just do with that curry?"

"I made sure I was sweet by taking a small bite of it?" Peppita said confused. "I dunno what you're trying to tell me, Sophia..."

Sophia shook her head. "No, you don't understand. Curry is supposed to be spicy, not sweet!"

"..." Peppita thought for a moment. "...Oh no!" she said before frowning to herself. "I knew the taste was a little bit funky! Oh my god, so that's why he smelled like sweet curry when I passed behind him!"

"And you went ahead and gave that to him?"

"U-um, yeah..."

"And you didn't see him eat it?"

"I-I had a lot of confidence that it came out good so I left his room..." Peppita responded.

"Oh my goodness..." Sophia frowned. "Peppita, you need to apologize to him again. I'm sure he doesn't look happy. I mean, look at him," she said as she pointed at the mad Fox talking with Fayt. "He looks really mad and...is that a curry patch on his vest?"

"Er..."

"...He fainted when he ate it..."

"..." Peppita trembled a bit. "...I have to make it up for all the mistakes I've been doing to him..." she muttered before she walked to the Crafting area.

Sophia blinked a few times as Peppita returned to her area. The teen stared up at the ceiling and looked worried. "Oh no, things are going to get even worse, I know it..." she muttered before sighing and returning to make the food.

However, she noticed that Peppita was back on her right side, making Sophia jump back a bit in surprise.

"Y-yiah!" Sophia yelped. "P-Peppita, I thought you were going back to work! W-what are you doing here?"

"I just remembered something," Peppita said. "When I was hiding from him yesterday, I heard some good stuff about his past..."

"And..."

"You need to know this," Peppita whispered. "I need you to know more about Fox so you call help me out."

Sophia looked unsure at this before the Velbaysian started to tell her all about she heard last night between Fox and Chris.

"And then I fainted and the curry fell on me," Fox finished explaining Fayt. "I'm telling you, she's been looking at me for quite a long time now. Every time I look at her, she blushes and starts stuttering a bit."

Fayt thought for a moment. "(She blushes and stutters when she sees him... Hmm... She's not thinking about...)"

"Do you have any idea to stop her from acting like that around me?" Fox asked, interrupting Fayt's train of thoughts.

"Well, I'm not sure about it," Fayt said. "I don't understand most girls that well, but I guess I could tell her to stop that."

"No, you're going to tell her without possibilities," Fox said. "Seriously, do you think I'm in the mood to have a child like her stalk me when I'm having some personal problems that I rather not talk about someone else?"

"No..."

"Well, then tell her to stop bothering me," Fox said with a glare. "As I've said before, I'm not in the mood. I wanted to relax in this place, but all I've done was mope around depressed these last days. I just want to find that Spagonia Temple so we get over this."

"I understand," Fayt said. "I don't know if Peppita is going to listen and stop."

"Just try, please," Fox said. "I'm getting quite annoyed by her odd antics whenever I look at her directly."

"Okay," Fayt said. "I'll do my best to put her in her place."

"Thanks," Fox said nodding. "Now, I need to go back to the Engineering area. For once, there's a place I have some expertise," he said with a sigh before turning around to walk directly to the Engineering area where a busy Samus and a very busy Tails worked on the machines as a sleeping Sonic used some wrenches to use them as a pillow of last resort.

"Oh, you're here," Samus said as she stopped spinning a presser to lower it down on a metal plate where some devices were scattered around. "You look a little bit angrier than usual."

"Oh, what do you know?" Fox asked without looking at her. "I've been having bad times these last days."

"What would those bad times be?"

"Nothing you should know about," Fox said annoyed as he went to a machine. "Leave me alone for the time being so I can relax."

Samus looked away, "(What is wrong with him? He's looking even angrier than usual... Wait, that's his usual face...I-I mean...whatever...)" she thought with a mental sigh. "Are you really sure you don't want to talk to anybody?"

"I'm sure, okay?" Fox asked as he grabbed a lever from the green machine in front of him in order to activate its functions. "I need some time alone."

"Okay..." Samus said before returning working. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"Please, don't be," Fox said. "I can get over this pretty well."

At that moment, Cliff passed and looked at Fox. "Hey, you," he said to get the vulpine's attention. "Don't look so bad, okay? You can do it just fine."

Fox stopped working and looked up at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's not necessary for me to remind you about you-know-what," Cliff said before smiling a bit. "You look pretty tough to hang in there. Trust me, guys like you can tolerate and resist pretty much anything."

Fox looked confused before Cliff walked away. The vulpine looked down at the stone floor. "(What did he mean by all that, exactly?)"

Suddenly, Nel came from the Alchemy area and looked at Fox. "So, you're not fretting over anything?"

Fox looked at her. "What?"

Nel crossed her arms. "You look a little bit depressed so I wanted to give you some moral support."

"...Thanks?"

Nel nodded. "Glad to be of help here," she said before walking away to talk with Fayt.

Fox looked even more confused at this sudden talk. Suddenly, Roger passed by and looked up at him. "Hey man, how's it going for yah?"

"...Good?" Fox responded.

Roger grinned and wiped his nose a bit. "Heheh, don't sweat it. A real man like you can get over the toughest of challenges out there."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you didn't like me."

"Meh, after watching you fight yesterday against the Proclaimer, I take all back about what I said about you," Roger said with a chuckle. "You're real example of a real man, dude. At first, I didn't recognize that spark until you actually fought like a professional. I'm pretty darn sure you can overcome any obstacle in your path." He stared at Fox. "Cheer up, okay?" he asked before he walked away to the left.

Fox merely blinked confused at this. When did he become the center of attention for 3 people? "Why's everyone talking to me so suddenly, anyway?" he asked to himself.

Suddenly, Albel came from the left and chuckled to himself. "Maggot, can't you resist whatever is haunting you?"

Fox looked at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Whatever, I don't want to have more problems that I don't need," Albel said. "Enjoy your time as you suffer slowly, maggot." The captain of the Black Brigade snickered a bit as he walked away to the right.

Fox looked mad at this moment. "Okay, something's definitely going on around here that's making everyone talk to me."

The vulpine noticed that Maria came from the left and looked at him. "Are you feeling okay?" Maria asked as she rubbed her chin a bit.

"You, why are you asking me that out of nowhere?" Fox asked with a glare. "I demand answers."

[DededeCloneChris]

Maria shook her head. "I refrain to hurt your feelings. Sorry."

"Hurt my feelings?" Fox asked. "What's that supposed to mean exactly?"

"Look, just don't think about what happened to you before," Maria said. "I once lost my mother when I was fleeing from a sudden attack at the transport ship I was traveling in. My mom couldn't make it with me because there was only a escape pod left that she wanted me to use so I could live..." She closed her eyes and frowned. "I know how you feel, Fox. Really, I do..."

The vulpine stared at her.

"..." Maria opened her eyes. "I just don't want to hurt your feelings...that's all I want to say... Sorry for interrupting you..." she said before turning around to walk away.

Fox looked down at the floor and shifted his eyes a bit. "Wait, why did she decide to talk about her family randomly? Why was she showing some empathy?" He rubbed his chin a bit. "You know, I think I'm starting to understand why everyone's telling me about hanging in there by myself..."

Fox found some black shoes in front of him. The vulpine looked up where Mirage looked down at him, a hint of sympathy in her look. "Hey, are you feeling okay, Fox?"

"Yeah..." Fox said before shaking his head. "...Okay, that's it," he said before standing up as he glared up at Mirage. "Tell me right now why everyone's showing some sympathy to me."

Mirage tilted her head. "What, you don't know, then?"

"If I knew why everyone is saying encouraging things to me, I wouldn't be asking you this question," Fox said as he crossed his arms. "Now tell me something. Why's everyone suddenly talking to me out of the blue? I'm pretty sure you know why because you came here to ask me how I was feeling."

Mirage got in a thinking position. "Does that mean you're feeling okay now?"

"I'm feeling okay now," Fox said. "However, I'm not feeling quite fine after I started to get some talks with the others."

"Oh," Mirage said with a nod. "It's good to see you're not feeling bad for what happened to your father and mother then."

A record scratched.

"...Wait, what?" Fox asked. "My father and mother?"

"Yeah," Mirage said. "I heard that you had a very happy childhood before everything turned out so badly for you. I think I understand that you lost your mother when you were born."

The vulpine looked extremely confused at this. Fox asked to himself where the heck they all got the information about his past.

"How the hell do you know all that of me?" Fox asked with a glare. "I didn't tell you any of that, and you shouldn't know about it either."

"Oh...I see..." Mirage said a little bit worried. "Sorry if I knew about you, Fox."

Fox pressed his fingers between his eyes as he closed his eyes. "Just...go away...please..." he muttered.

"Okay..." Mirage said before she walked away from him.

The vulpine remained doing the same action before he slowly opened his eyes to look around the workshop with a glare. "(Okay, now I know somebody has been going around here telling pretty much everyone about my past...)" He grunted a bit as he made a fist on his right hip. "(I'm not willing to let this go so simply like that, no way... Now, who did I tell my past to?)"

In the Writing area, there was the dragoon busily writing on blank pages as he wore some small glasses. Upon looking down, Chris chuckled heartily to himself as he adjusted his glasses. "Oh, just look at this piece of art," he said to himself as he finished writing for the book. "We have here a Fire Discharge book which can relinquish fire elemental properties to any kind of weapon there is through synthesis. Oh yes, I'm just getting warmed up in the field of Writing," he said happily to himself as he put the book away.

Once he looked to his right, the dragoon froze as he looked up at the glaring Fox.

"U-uah!" Chris dropped his glasses on his hips. "F-Fox, don't scare me like that with THAT face you're making! (Not that I said you're always making that one but...)"

"Chris," Fox began, making Chris shake a bit. "I want you to tell me something."

"I-is it something about regarding an incident that surely had nothing to do with me whatsoever?"

"Unfortunately, it has you there," Fox said before closing his eyes. "Now tell me, did you go around telling everyone about what happened yesterday?"

"..." Chris stared at him. "...Er, no..."

"Are you sure about it?" Fox asked as he opened his glaring eyes.

"I-I'm definitely sure I didn't break our promise," Chris said with a gulp. "I-it's not like I betrayed you or something..."

"..."

"C-can you stop looking at me that way?"

Fox sighed. "Whatever, just continue with what you were doing..."

The dragoon gulped one last time before turning around to the desk, leaving Fox to walk away as he slightly hit his forehead with his right fist. "Ugh, c'mon, Chris must have been the one who told everyone about yesterday's conversation...but he's always saying the truth to me when I ask him..." He looked around. "If he wasn't the one who did it, who else did? Who am I forgetting?"

The vulpine thought for a minute.

"...Wait, why don't I ask the people who went to say all those things to me so I can track down the culprit?"

At that moment, Adray came from the right. "The loss of your parents must have been very tough for you, young man. You have my respect fo-"

"Shut up and tell me who told you that," Fox interrupted Adray by pointing a fast finger at him.

"What is wrong with people today?" Adray asked as he looked up. "Can't they be nice to me for a change?"

"AHEM..."

Adray looked back at Fox. "Oh, sorry... Anyhow, Roger told me that you were..."

And then Fox found himself going from area to area to talk with different people.

Roger stopped working and turned around to look up at Fox. "Well, yah see, Mirage told me that..."

Mirage rubbed her chin. "I heard from Cliff that..."

Cliff stopped banging the big hammer he was using on a katana to talk with Fox. "You don't know? Well, I heard from Maria..."

Maria crossed her arms. "Last time I checked, Albel was the one who..."

Albel, who was leaned against the wall from the left side, looked at the glaring Fox. "Maggot, I heard from the Aquaria scum that you were..."

Nel rubbed her chin. "I think Sophia was the one who..."

And finally, Fox made his way to the busy Sophia in the Cooking area.

"Hmm?" Sophia turned around to find the vulpine staring at her. "Oh, hi there, Fox. Is there something bothering you?"

Fox nodded. "You see, people around the workshop have been approaching me, telling me that I needed to hang in there and such things like that."

Sophia looked confused. "And?"

"And I realized that pretty much everyone here knows what happened to my parents for some reason or another," Fox explained, making Sophia gasp mentally. "And last time I remember, I DIDN'T, I repeat, DIDN'T tell anyone about that at all because it is SUPPOSED to be private."

Sophia began to sweat. "I-I-ah..."

Fox narrowed his eyes at her. "You weren't the one who told them all of that..were you?"

Sophia felt a lot of pressure as the emerald eyes focused on her brown eyes. The teen began to feel weak and worthless at the smaller yet older character. Sophia never felt so much pressure before in her life, even if she fights abnormalities all the time with Fayt and the other. With those eyes, Sophia knew well Fox could kill people off. The only thing Fox needed to really kill people was Fox to have laser eyes.

And what was Sophia thinking about laser eyes in a moment like that?

"..." Sophia blushed embarrassed. "I-I need to go back to wo-"

"Just tell me already that you were the one who told EVERYONE here about me," Fox demanded with a menacing glare (without laser eyes). "Tell me that, and I'll try not to find some kind of way to punish you."

Sophia got even more pressured than before. Fox's words weren't surely reassuring her at all.

"..." Sophia closed her eyes as her lips twitched.

Fox only had his arms crossed as the teen bowed down to him in respect.

"I...I told Nel about you..." Sophia admitted ashamed of herself. "...B-but I didn't tell anyone else about your childhood...N-Nel probably was the one who started to tell everyone...b-but that's just me..." She pulled back her head to look back at Fox. "Really, I'm so sorry for divulging something I shouldn't have heard from you! I-I don't know what I was thinking back then, I swear!"

"Wait," Fox said to interrupt Sophia's apology as he raised an eyebrow. "You're saying you heard that from someone else?"

Sophia gasped. "E-er, no, I didn't hear that from someone else..." She began to sweat even more.

Fox narrowed his eyes yet again. "Are you sure you didn't hear that from someone else?"

"I-I'm sure of it, yeah..." Sophia said. "C-can I go back to work on the soup I'm making?"

"Wait right there."

"Y-yes sir..." Sophia said with a gulp.

Fox rubbed his chin. "Okay, based from all the people I interrogated here..." He pointed at her. "Was it Fayt the one?"

"Oh no, he wasn't the one who told me that..." Sophia gasped. "I-I mean, I-I didn't hear that from anybody!"

"Stop it with the panic and let's get to the point so I can stop that bastard from telling stuff he or she shouldn't tell anybody else. I don't like of people to hear about my past because I think that's invading my privacy AND my past as well," Fox explained. "And let's see here, if I've asked 8 people out of the 10 from your group, that'd make you the ninth person I'm talking to."

Sophia gulped. The image of a certain happy Velbaysian came to her mind.

"And if I've interrogated 9 people out of the 10..." Fox looked even more serious at her. "...I can assume that the last person who did this outrage was the same person who overheard about what I was talking with Chris yesterday..."

Sophia looked annoyed at him. "Wait, if you knew it was Peppita all along, then why are you asking everyone about something that's so obvious to te-"

The teen suddenly covered her mouth with her hands as Fox looked mad at her.

"...I-I mean to say she didn't do that sort of thing..." Sophia tried her best to calm down the vulpine. "S-she's a nice girl, I mean..."

"...So it WAS her all along..." Fox muttered.

"...I-I swear she didn't mean this at all..." Sophia said as she uncovered her mouth. "R-really, she didn't think this would happen..."

Suddenly, Fox stomped the hard floor one time enough to make a loud sound that startled Sophia as she backed away a bit from him.

"P-please, don't hurt me, Fox!" Sophia pleaded as she joined her hands and began to move them back and forth. "A-and please, don't do something harsh on Peppita!"

"Where the hell is that girl, anyway?" Fox demanded. "Tell me now or else I-"

"S-she's not here!" Sophia yelled worried. "S-she just went out to get some materials for the Boots of Prowess she's making!"

"Is that true?"

"Y-yes, I swear it's true, but please don't hurt her!" Sophia said. "S-she's just...w-well...I-I don't want to say that..."

Fox looked very serious at her. "And what is that?"

Sophia shook her head as she took another step back. "I-I..."

Suddenly, the door of the workshop opened to reveal a cheerful Peppita walking in. The Velbaysian looked very happy as she muttered to herself something. "That guy I bumped to by accident looked so familiar," she muttered as she walked around the counter. "Why, he looked just lik-"

Fox and Sophia turned at her, the vulpine making a glare. "There she is," Fox said before he started to walk towards her.

Sophia knew things were going to turn out for the worse. The teen stopped cooking to go and do whatever she could do to stop any arguments.

Stopping on her path to the Crafting area, Peppita noticed that Fox was standing in her way with crossed arms. The Velbaysian stopped walking and blushed a bit after looking up at him. "Oh, hi, Fox. How are you?" She looked confused. "You know, you look a little bit angry... Did something happen?"

"Oh, like hell something happened," Fox said a bit mad while a worried Sophia watched from behind him. "Stop playing around, now."

Peppita raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I haven't been playing around..."

"Oh, are you sure?" Fox asked.

"Y-yeah..." Peppita started to get a little bit frightened by Fox's glare. "I-I mean, I've been working hard on the Boots of Prowess all day..."

"Are you sure of that?" Fox asked. "I'm asking you this because I started to hear from, I don't know, pretty much everyone here that they know about what I talked with Chris last night."

Peppita rubbed her chin. "Is that so? Weird, I only remember telling that to Sophia in secret and..." The Velbaysian suddenly gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh no..."

Fox narrowed his eyes at her. "What the hell did I tell you about not telling absolutely ANYONE about what happened that night?"

"Y-you said you didn't want me to tell nobody..." Peppita muttered under her hands. "B-but I just told Sophia..."

Sophia looked defeated. "S-sorry, but I think I went too far in telling everyone about what you told me, Peppita..."

"Sophia!" Peppita looked angry at her. "That's a little bit childish of you from telling people secrets from others! What were you thinking when you did that?"

"Hey, don't put all the blame on me!" Sophia said annoyed.

Fox closed his eyes and grunted a bit. "Actually, I agree with Sophia," he said before looking at Peppita. "Do you know who else is acting very childish to others here?"

Peppita shifted her eyes. "...Roger?"

Fox shook his head.

"Cliff?"

Fox shook his head.

"Chris?"

"Hey!" Chris yelled without turning to her, not minding whatever they were doing.

Fox shook his head.

"Albel? It should be Albel because he's such a meanie."

"No," Fox said. "I'm talking about you."

"..." Peppita blinked a few times. "Huh? Me? B-but I always act very mature, don't I?"

"You, mature?" Fox asked before frowning. "What the hell makes you think you're even half mature?"

"W-well, I act very nice to people and I always say thanks when somebody helps me out in something I'm having some issues with...I even help them out when they need me," Peppita said as she played with her fingers a bit. "I listen to adults whenever they want me to do something as well... Isn't that mature?"

The vulpine made a fist on his right side of his hips. "What the heck makes you think that makes you mature at all?!" Fox yelled loudly.

Suddenly, all the inventors overheard the loud yell that they all stopped working before looking at the center of the workshop to the 3.

Fayt looked up from the files he was patenting before he turned around and gasped a bit. "What the..."

Peppita took a step back from Fox. "W-well, I think I'm mature enough..." Peppita said unsure.

"Oh, do you really think that makes you mature?" Fox asked mad. "Is it really mature for people to stalk others in their rooms?"

"W-well, that isn't matur-"

"Is it really mature for people to act very stupid around others?"

"N-not that I'm aware o-"

"Is is really mature for people to treat others like little children when they're ironically the real children?"

Peppita started to panic a bit. "L-little kids can become mature very earl-"

"And is it really mature for people to disobey adults when they're having private talks with others that they prefer not to tell anybody else so it stays as a secret?!" Fox asked loudly to the point he didn't notice he was walking slowly to the frightened Peppita. "Why are you being so darn fixated on me, anyway?!"

Peppita gulped as she started to back away from the furious leader of Star Fox. "I-I..."

"Why the hell can't you just leave me alone in peace?!" Fox asked as he came even closer to Peppita. "I wanted to enjoy this universe so I could feel happy myself for knowing that this place actually existed, but after I came here to see it with my own eyes, there's you who can't just stop annoying the hell out of me!"

Peppita tried her best to stay calm. "I-I..."

"P-please, stop it!" Sophia yelled, but Fox didn't listen to her.

"Why the heck can't you be nice and go away from me?!" Fox asked as she pointed at her. "I want to have some peace and relieve my stress from some painful memories I've been starting to recall and you're not helping at all!"

"I-I tried my best to..." Peppita trailed off.

"Tried your best? What the hell does that even mean?" Fox asked as he stomped the floor one time, awakening the sleeping Sonic from the Engineering area. "Don't you understand I'm way older than you and that I know how to take care of myself from people like you?"

"I-I understand that very much b-but..." Peppita's eyes started to fill with tears.

"If you understand very much, then why can't you just leave me alone for once?!" Fox asked furiously.

Peppita began to shake her head. "Y-you don't understand me, Fox..." she muttered with some fear.

"What?" Fox asked. "What do you mean by that? What's that about me not understanding you?"

Peppita gulped as almost everyone looked at them from all the areas. "I-I mean to say you don't understand me because you just simply...er...um...you just simply don't understand me...that's all..."

"That doesn't even make ANY kind of sense," Fox said mad. "Tell me what you really mean, now."

Peppita shook her head even more. "N-no, it's too early to say that to you! I-I need to keep working hard for...I-I mean...d-don't listen to me, please..."

Fox came even closer to her. "Oh, I want to hear that. I want to find out why you're being like this around me," he said with a glare. "I want to know right now so we end this here once and for all."

Peppita found herself standing in front of the left wall, not any more space to back away from the mad adult. Gulping, Peppita began to feel threatened. "I-I don't wanna!" Peppita yelled. "I don't wanna say it here! I-it's just too embarrassing to say such a thing when everyone's looking!"

"You know what, that's the same thing I felt," Fox said as he stopped walking just some feet away from her. "I'm feeling so DAMN embarrassed because someone couldn't shut up her mouth from telling private things to others when I'm at the point of yelling aloud many curses to no one in particular. Do you EVEN know what the private word means?"

"I-it means something that should be kept to one person or more as long as it doesn't get known by others..." Peppita responded. "T-that's correct, right?"

"Yeah," Fox said as he narrowed his eyes, frightening the girl even more. "If you want to stay fine with me, you better tell me what you're hiding from me."

"N-no!" Peppita yelled loudly as she blushed embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry, but I just can't tell you this! I-it's a very intimate secret I just don't wanna sa-"

"You're starting to piss me off now," Fox said as he made fists to the side of his hips, the others looking at each other. "Tell me what the hell you're hiding from me now...or else..."

Fox's words sounded very threatening to the Velbaysian. This feeling of fright was further supported by the glaring look the leader of Star Fox was giving to her. Also, Peppita just remembered that the fox was bigger than her, making everything feel so frightening.

"I-I..." Peppita stuttered as she shook in fear. "I-I..."

"You..." Fox muttered.

"...I-I..." Peppita gulped as everyone silently watched. She wanted someone to help her out, but it seemed that everyone wanted to see where this was going. "I-I...I-I...I-I..." Peppita gulped again.

"3..." Fox began a countdown. Whatever was at the end it surely had something very bad in reserve for Peppita. "2...1..."

Peppita was cornered.

"I-I...I-I...I-I love you, Fox..." Peppita muttered before she looked down and frowned to herself. "...I-in truth...I-I love you so much, Fox..."

Sophia gasped, Fayt's jaw opened a bit, C. Falcon looked shocked, Mirage covered her mouth with a hand, Cliff raised his eyebrows, Tails's tails (pun intended) stopped moving as he looked surprised, inside Samus's helmet her eyes were wide, Roy looked a bit shocked, Pit didn't move, Chilico stopped flying around to look very surprised at this, Adray's eyes dilated, Nel stared at the 2 in surprise, Misty Lear's eyes didn't make any motion, Roger's jaw dropped, Maria blinked with a little bit of amusement, Albel looked away, Puffy looked confused, and Wolf merely crossed his arms.

And Sonic looked bored, not finding anything of worth in this revelation.

"...What?" Fox asked to break the eerie silence in the workshop.

"..." Peppita nodded and looked up at him. "...I-I'm so madly in love with you, Fox..." Peppita said as she smiled a bit at him. "...W-when I first saw you, I thought you looked...very handsome...and so cute as well... I-I started to feel so funny when I looked at you at Welch's place..." She giggled silently. "A-and whenever I thought about you...I-I always blushed and giggled to myself because...I-I fell in love for the first time ever..." She played with her fingers. "I-I feel extremely happy when I'm talking you in hopes to get you...well...in love with me..."

Fox simply stared at her.

"...S-so I did everything I could so you could like me..." Peppita said. "...I wanted to find out more about you so we could be together..."

Fox blinked at this.

"A-all the stuff I offered you before was only because I like you so much..." Peppita admitted. "...I-I want to be in love with you forever, Fox... I...I...I just want you to confess your love to me..."

The dragoon shook his head at this. "(Oh my god...)" Chris thought. "(T-that's going too far already...)"

"(Oh no...)" Sophia shook her head. "(Here it comes...)"

"...S-so..." Peppita smiled at Fox. "What do you say, Fox? D-do you love me as much as I do to you?"

A creepy silence followed after Peppita told her question of proposal. Nobody could do anything to speak due to the fact the situation looked very serious.  The vulpine kept staring at Peppita without showing any emotion because he stared down blankly at her. The Velbaysian thought that the leader of Star Fox surely tried his best to choose the right words to make her happy.

However, this was just a cruel illusion...

"..." In an instant, Fox's fists tightened as he glared down at her. "...Why would I EVER fall in love with such a immature girl like you?!"

Peppita's eyes suddenly widened in horror as her pupils shrunk instantly. She could heard glass shattering inside her after hearing the angry response from the furious vulpine.

Pit looked back in the Crafting area where a shocked Roger looked down at a broken orb that just appeared there. "N-NO, MY MIST ORB!!!" Roger yelled as he lamented his mistake. The orb presumably rolled over the edge and fell down by accident.

Peppita raised her hands to her neck level as the vulpine looked furious at her. "You mean to tell me you did all those things just because you thought I could fall in love with you?" Fox asked. "What the hell is wrong with that head of yours?!"

Peppita's eyes began to fill with tears. "I-I thought you loved me as well so I-"

"What makes you even think I'm in love with you?!" Fox yelled as she pointed at her, some of the inventors gasping. "Why would I love a very young girl like you?!"

"A-age differences don't matter at this time, right?" Peppita asked as she wiped some tears. "L-love doesn't have any barriers t-"

"What kind of bulls(beep)t is that?!" Fox yelled.

"W-what?"

Fox swung his right arm to his right as he held out his hand to the same direction. "If you really think you're mature, you should have known before that adults don't fall in love with kids! You were so fixated on me so you could have an excuse to spy on me and divulge my past that I wanted to keep private from the others?"

"D-didn't you tell him that t-"

Fox pointed at Chris. The dragoon hopped from his seat. "I told that to Chris because he knows darn well not to tell anybody else about what we talk in private, you know!" he yelled furiously at her. "He knows very well I'd beat him to death if he ever did something like that!"

The World Traveler gasped. "(W-wait, beat me to death? W-what is Fox thinking now?)"

Peppita shook even more in fear. "A-are you going to hit me, then?"

"No, I still have some manners towards girls," Fox said. "However, do you think I'm going to let you go after you did all that?"

"N-no..."

"Then understand that I don't want you to help me at all!" Fox yelled. "I'm sick of you already! It's way too much to have you around when I'm trying to relax for once!"

"I-I just wanted t-"

"Just do me a favor and get out of my sight!" Fox yelled at the girl. "I will never love you, I will never talk to you anymore, and I will never, EVER think about you anymore either!"

Peppita's eyes began to fill with tears as she sniffed several times at the older character. Everyone watched as the Velbaysian rubbed her eyes a bit before looking back at Fox.

"Don't even think you're going to change my mind by crying either," Fox said mad.

"..." Peppita, despite shedding tears, glared at Fox. "...What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?!" she asked by yelling loudly as she pointed at Fox. "You're such a big meanie!"

"What was that?"

"Yeah, you're a big jerk!" Peppita yelled angrily. "I dunno why I even fell in love with such a heartless bastard like you! If I knew you were THIS easy to make angry, then I wouldn't have done all those nice things to you!"

"Nice things? Do you call all that crap nice things?" Fox asked. "Those nice things ended up hurting my dignity and conscience!"

"I was just trying to do my best to help you!" Peppita yelled. "Geez, I don't understand why adults get so worked up over meaningless things!"

"You just did NOT say my past is meaningless..." Fox muttered as he gritted his fangs.

"It IS meaningless!" Peppita yelled. "Who cares if you lost your father and mother? Why do you make such a big deal about that insignificant fact on a poor girl like me?"

"I happen to have liked both of my parents very much," Fox said. "If I heard someone mocking them, I'm going to do something about it."

Peppita stuck out her tongue. "Well, then I don't care!" she yelled loudly before she started crying. "Y-you're always going to be alone for the rest of your life because you don't care what the others think about you!"

Fox's eyes widened in fury as he looked down at her.

"A-and for that matter..." Peppita sniffed. "I bet I'm not the only one who gets this unfair treatment over a small accident by such a big jerk like you!"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Fox shouted loudly at the Velbaysian.

Peppita stared angrily at him. "...T-this is exactly why you're going to be alone...because you want to be a stupid lone wolf... Jerk! ...You're such a big...a big...a big...a big...a big...idiot..." Peppita's lips shook as her eyes were completely filled with tears. The others watched as the Velbaysian turned around and ran away outside where she started crying silently as she went away in a hurry to the east, her fists moving back and forth as her tears fell down on the street.

No one in the workshop decided to speak as a furious Fox panted heavily with long sighs. All the inventors could only wait for the vulpine to calm down after the event that took place.

Sophia shook her head in pure disbelief. "N-no..."

"...Oh man..." Cliff muttered. "...What a way to yell at her..."

"This is just...so bad..." Pit muttered.

"...I would have done the same thing, though..." Tails muttered worried. "I'd have run away after that..."

"Peppita..." Maria shook her head. "She knew she was going to confront this sooner or later because of her actions... Dammit, I told her not to come with us..."

Fayt only frowned and closed his eyes. "Poor Peppita..." he muttered.

"Getting yelled like that...and knowing that he didn't think the same as she did to him..." Samus muttered before frowning. "...It's just so sad..."

"..." As Fox panted heavily, he wiped all the sweat from his forehead and turned around to look at everyone. "...What?" he asked as he opened his arms. "Do you have something to say or what?"

"...I have something," Nel began as she crossed her arms.

"Then what is it?" Fox asked with a glare.

Nel shook her head. "I know for sure that breaking someone's wishes with that display of cruelty is wrong," she said. "It's just like a monster would do."

Fox glared menacingly at her. "Are you calling me a monster? Do you see something disturbing on me to address me like one?"

Nel shook her head again. "Monsters don't necessarily need to look hideous," she said. "Real monsters are those who harm people physically...or in this case, emotionally."

"Tsk," Fox said with a frown. "She had it coming from the very beginning. If she was so fixated of me, then should would have listened."

"What kind of insencitive bastard are you?" Maria asked. "You don't care about her anymore just because she told something about you to everyone? Why is it wrong to know what happened to you before in the past?"

"Look," Fox began, "I had a very horrible past before that I wanted to stay in the shadows so I wouldn't feel depressed. I told this to Chris because I wanted him to know more about me because I didn't want to tell this to anyone else who would probably tell someone else about it," he explained. "And look at what just happened here."

Fayt shook his head. "Yeah, we understand it should be private, but...why did you have to be so harsh on Peppita? She just wanted you to like her."

Fox closed his eyes annoyed. "Do you think it was right for her for going so far to achieve something she wouldn't get even in a million of years? It was so obvious I didn't love her even a bit. I grew so frustrated to the point I wanted to speak my mind to her."

"We know it was not right for her to do all that," Mirage said. "However, she didn't need to receive such a cruel response from you."

"Who cares..." Fox muttered as he opened his eyes. "What's done is done..."

Everyone looked at each other worried before they all slowly returned to work on their areas. Fox looked at Wolf from his spot. The lupine had his arms crossed before he frowned and turned around to work in the Compounding area.

"(What, am I ashaming him of all people?)" Fox asked in his mind.

The leader of Star Fox grunted a bit before he looked to his right where Sophia looked worried at him.

"What is it now?" Fox asked. "Are you going to yell at me?"

"..." Sophia shook her head. "D-don't take me wrong, but I don't exactly hate you, Fox..."

"Good," Fox said. "Somebody here understands my reasons."

"However..."

Fox rolled his eyes. "Here we go to the part I shouldn't have done..."

"...Peppita just felt empathy for you all along..."

Fox frowned and glared at her. "Oh, please, like this already happened to her once. I know for sure this is the first time she has been scolded by an adult."

Sophia nodded. "Well, yeah, this is the first time she has been scolded by an adult...but...truth is..." She looked worried. "...Peppita thought she would be good friends with you..."

"More like false lovers," Fox said. "I mean, I have a girlfriend."

Chris turned around. "I-I could argue you wit-"

"Shut up!"

The World Traveler turned around and continued to write.

Fox looked at Sophia. "Anyway, she shouldn't feel empathy for me because of this."

"No, you don't understand..." Sophia trailed off. "I-I know it was wrong of her to tell everyone about your past...but...I guess it's not going to harm you to know about her own past... Everyone here knows it, but she doesn't care about it..."

Fox looked bored at her and grumbled a bit.

"You see..." Sophia trailed off. "...Peppita...when she was little..."

Inn - Hallway

Enviromental Noises

The day went by, and night came very fast. Nobody decided to make more research around the fields of Peterny after witnessing the cruel event at the workshop. Fayt had told the Smashers and the others not to worry about Peppita. Fayt told them that Peppita would eventually come back and be herself again.

However, some of them started to grow worried as Peppita didn't come back from whenever she ran away. Roger offered to look for her around the city, but he ended up not finding her. He thought that she wouldn't possibly leave the city and just hide somewhere to think about what had happened.

It was very late, and a half-awake Chris slowly walked upstairs. The dragoon was thinking about the incident at the workshop. "I don't understand why Fox had to act like that... If somebody would ask me, I'd say he went too far on Peppita..." he muttered as he reached the dark hallway. "Why did I have to stay behind and finish the Earth Discharge book? My wrist feels so...tired..."

The World Traveler suddenly bumped into a figure. The dragoon fell back on his rear and moaned a little bit in pain.

"O-oww..." Chris muttered before looking up. "Who's standing in the middle of the night and the hallway in this darkness?"

"If isn't the kid..."

Chris's eyes suddenly widened after he looked up at Wolf. The dragoon looked a bit scared after finding the lupine all alone in the hallway of the second floor of the inn. "Y-you?"

"What, can't I have a walk in here?" Wolf asked a little bit irritated.

Chris slowly got up and looked scared. "W-what are you doing here? It's like 12:30 right now..." He looked to the door that was close to Wolf. "...And...that isn't your room's door...that's my room's door...and you're quite close to it..."

"So?"

"...Wait just a minute..." Chris looked serious at Wolf. "What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing," Wolf said. "I'm just trying to overhear some info from Fox."

"Oh..." Chris nodded. "..." He thought for a moment. "...Wait, what? Are you..."

Wolf frowned and looked at the door.

"W-wait just a minute, why are you stalking Fox for?" Chris asked confused. "It's not like you to be this interested on Fox, you know..."

Wolf thought for a moment. "Hmm..." He looked at Chris and grinned a bit. "...Maybe this will prove beneficial to me..."

The dragoon looked scared at Wolf's amused grin. "W-Wolf, what are you trying to do to me now? A-are you trying to change the subject here?"

Wolf shook his head. "Oh no, it's quite the contrary that also has to do with this," he explained. "However, it's going to give me some benefits in exchange thanks to you, kid."

"W-whatever are you trying to say to me?" Chris asked.

A while later...

The World Traveler blinked shocked at the lupine. It seemed that they both had an important talk that also involved Chris accepting a favor from Wolf himself.

"...I-I...I-I just can't..." Chris shook his head. "I mean...you...you've been doing..."

"Let's save the talk for later, kid," Wolf said as he grabbed the doorknob of the door. "It's time to make Fox atone for what he has done today to that girl."

"D-do I take that as a sign of you-" Chris stopped talking once Wolf opened the door of the room.

"...What the..." Wolf muttered.

"...Is something wrong?" Chris asked before he walked to his side and looked into the room. "...What..."

After Wolf opened the door to Chris's room, what he didn't expect was Fox's bed empty. It was easy to tell Fox was there before by the fact the bed sheet was all rugged as it hung on the right side of the bed. Also, the window behind the bed was wide open as the curtains were being dragged along by the wind.

"That bastard..." Wolf muttered as he gritted his fangs. "That's why the room was so silent. The guy escaped right before I came here..." He grunted. "Dammit..."

"O-oh no, where did he go?" Chris asked worried.

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

However, they didn't know that one of them was already at the mercy of the Shadow Nightmare as a scream from a man echoed through the enormous garden hidden between Peterny and Aquios.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

The scream not only was alone, but if someone could hear, another different voice could be heard laughing maniacally...

...It was just the prologue of the next dreadful fight of the third hellish night...

TO BE CONTINUED...

.............................................................................................

"Third Liar: Fox the Corrupt... Dammit..." Maria muttered.

Do you want to save your data?

Yes

Overwrite File?

Yes

Aquatic Garden, Surferio
Chris, Lucario, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pikachu, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Red, Squirtle, Ivysaur, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Samus, Kirby, Meta Knight, Link, Zelda, Toon Link, Fox, Falco, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Marth, Roy, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Pit, Ice Climbers, Snake, Sonic, Tails, Chip, Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Cliff, Mirage, Nel, Albel, Peppita, Roger, Adray

[DededeCloneChris]

Chapter 157: Third Liar: Fox the Corrupt

Flashback

Trading Town of Peterny
Workshop

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Lakes and Marshes with Doubt

"No, you don't understand..." Sophia trailed off. "I-I know it was wrong of her to tell everyone about your past...but...I guess it's not going to harm you to know about her own past... Everyone here knows it, but she doesn't care about it..."

Fox looked bored at her and grumbled a bit.

"You see..." Sophia trailed off. "...Peppita...when she was little..."

Fox turned around a put a hand in his right pocket. "Look, this is done and over with. I want to be alone for the time being."

"I-I know you want to do that, but will you please listen to what I have to say first?"

"..." Fox didn't move. His face still looked mad.

"...Okay..." Sophia said nodding. "Let me tell you why Peppita felt that about you..." She looked away. "...Fox...your mother died right after you were born, right?"

"I thought EVERYONE knew that here," Fox said annoyed.

"Y-yeah, that's what I thought," Sophia said worried. "And your father...kind of left you...right?"

"...Yeah," Fox responded annoyed. "Where do you want to get with this?"

"I-I'm asking you all those things to clarify something I understand that you and Peppita have in common, Fox..."

"We do not have something common," Fox said as he turned around and glared at her. "For that matter, we're never going to be friends or something like that."

"Please, let me continue," Sophia said. "Even if you're going to refuse this...you 2 do have something in common..."

Fox looked mad at her. "Well, what is it? Tell me so I can go away and do my own business."

"..." Sophia nodded. "...You and Peppita probably share the same kind of past..."

"SURE," Fox said.

"I-I'm telling you this because...well..." Sophia looked away. "...Peppita...when she was little...her father..."

Fox grumbled a bit.

"...He abandoned her..." Sophia said. "...It's just like your father did to you, Fox..."

Fox narrowed his eyes at her. "Please, do you REALLY think that guy abandoned me just because he wanted?"

"W-what?"

Fox frowned. "I know my father is dead. There's no reason to fret over that for any time longer," he explained. "I know for something that my father didn't abandon me."

"I-I know, but don't you think you can relate that with Peppita's past?"

"I don't care about her anymore," Fox stated.

"...Not even if her mother died when she was 5?"

"..." Fox looked down. "Why do you try so hard to make me change my mind?"

Sophia put a hand over her neck. "I'm doing this because I can't just sit and watch how someone yells at someone else so fragile like Peppita. Why do you think she's always looking cheerful?"

"..." Fox remained silent.

"She's always looking cheerful so her past doesn't bother her," Sophia explained. "It's something natural that people do so they stay optimistic. Didn't you do that as well at some point?"

Fox frowned. "No, I didn't," he said. "But still, I'm not going to apologize to her after she did all that just for me to tell her I didn't love her."

"B-but...don't you feel ashamed?" Sophia asked. "Don't you feel ashamed to yell at a happy girl like Peppita who has gone through all those cruel events before?"

Fox stared away.

"Is it really any good destroying her cheerful nature?" Sophia asked. "She's been given another opportunity to enjoy life with the troupe she travels around across the universe. They told me that Peppita has been enduring and hanging there by herself in order for her to be happy."

Fox looked at her. "...And?"

"And...doesn't that bother deep down in you in truth?" Sophia asked. "Don't you have shame for breaking her emotionally?"

Fox closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "...Maybe just a little bit..."

"So, why don't you just go apologize to her?"

"I just can't," Fox stated. "I just can't do that, not after everything she did to me. She knew very well this was going to happen if she was acting "mature" all the time."

"Well, personally, I'd go to her and apologize," Sophia said before frowning. "...Otherwise, it'll bother me for the rest of my life if my parents died...and thinking about adding that display of unnecessary cruelty would make matters worse...and...I wouldn't be the same happy person like Peppita..."

Fox's eyes widened.

"...But...if you don't want to do that...I won't force you..." Sophia said before she walked away. "Just...think about this again so you can find the best answer..." she muttered as she walked to the Cooking area.

The vulpine watched as Sophia silently returned to her area. Fox looked around the workshop where nobody payed any attention to him. However, he noticed that Wolf stared at him for seconds before turning around, frowning to himself. The leader of Star Fox could tell nobody wanted to talk with him due to the silence that filled the air. The only sounds that echoed in the workshop were pencils writing, hard hot metal being banged against hammers, and the brewing moves of the soups.

The silence made Fox look down.

"(Dammit...)" Fox thought. "(I just don't know what to do for now... Everyone here should pretty much think I'm some sort of idiot... I...I need to have some time by myself and see this again...)" he thought ashamed before he walked away, trying to find the best answer for his dilemma. "(I hope I can decide this in time before I regret it...)"

End of flashback

North Peterny

The window of a familiar suddenly opened wide as Fox jumped out from the second floor and landed on safe floor, a serious look on his eyes as he sprinted to the north of the city, thinking only about the event that happened in the workshop that afternoon.

"(Why, why the hell did I do all that to someone like her?)" Fox asked to himself as he glared forward at the stone street. "(I just can't let her look all down after hearing Sophia about her...)" He closed his eyes as he dashed. "(If she ever comes back, she'll never speak a word to me. Worse yet, she could just hate me forever...)" He opened his glaring eyes. "(I don't want people to hate me because of my reckless behavior just because I'm thinking way too much...ever...)"

The leader of Star Fox suddenly stopped and looked around with a fist to his right hip. He seemed to be clicking several buttons on his scouter to find steps going to the north. Unfortunately, he only found a multitude of steps. The vulpine narrowed his eyes before turning off his equipment.

"(I heard she didn't come back to us when she ran away,)" Fox thought. "(Would she be still in the city, though? Ugh, she could be anywhere, crying to herself...)" Fox closed his eyes and grunted. "(No, don't think that... Focus... There must be a place somewhere where she could have escaped... There's a big chance I'm going to end up getting lost...but...)" He looked around. "(If I was her, I'd go to a place where nobody would look... If I take in mind that she knows the area, she'd probably think I'd go somewhere else before I'd go to a place I know well...but...am I right?)"

The vulpine looked at the open north gate of the city.

"...It's worth the try," Fox muttered in a serious tone. "She could be hiding in the last place I'd look into..." He tightened his fists and sprinted to the north, leaving the city behind.

Inn – Hallway

Around this time, the lupine had made his way behind the door to Chris's room to check on Fox even if he didn't know he was there. Also, it was around this time that Chris first appeared and bumped accidentally on Wolf.

"W-wait just a minute... Why are you stalking Fox for?" Chris asked confused. "It's not like you to be this interested on Fox, you know..."

Wolf thought for a moment. "Hmm..." He looked at Chris and grinned a bit. "...Maybe this will prove beneficial to me..."

The dragoon looked scared at Wolf's amused grin. "W-Wolf, what are you trying to do to me now? A-are you trying to change the subject here?"

Wolf shook his head. "Oh no, it's quite the contrary that also has to do with this," he explained. "However, it's going to give me some benefits in exchange thanks to you, kid."

"W-whatever are you trying to say to me?" Chris asked.

"I guess you find this odd of me, right?" Wolf asked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Don't try to hide it. It's very easy to tell."

"W-well..." Chris looked down for a bit before looking back at Wolf. "...It's odd of you to focus on Fox..."

Wolf nodded. "Truth is I have my reasons to be stalking him during these times at night."

"...Wait, what? So you've been stalking him ever since we came here?"

Wolf nodded again. "Not exactly stalking but making sure he was fine with himself."

The World Traveler looked confused at him. He didn't think Wolf would actually care about Fox's welfare. As far as Chris knew, they both would beat each other to death rather than helping each other. "W-why, though?" Chris asked. "Why are you trying to focus more on him more than usual? ...Are you trying to kill him?"

"I'd like to do that myself," Wolf admitted before he frowned. "However, it's...a favor I'm doing to someone who asked me to do this..."

"...What?" Chris asked. "Who made you do that? I thought you liked to do things your way...and not listen to anyone...or even me..."

"Well..." Wolf looked away. "...It's sort of a promise I made with someone..."

"...You made a promise with someone to stalk Fox?"

"...Sort of," Wolf said. "I'm not letting you know about it, though."

"What?"

Wolf shook his head. "I won't let you know about with who I made the promise with. As far as I know, telling you the secret could ruin my image with the people I know at my turf. However, as long as you shut up...I could let you know..."

"W-well..." Chris looked unsure. "I-I won't tell anybody about that secret... I don't mind..."

"...Hmm..." Wolf rubbed his chin. "...If I were to tell you this secret...would you do something for me?"

"Do something for you?" Chris asked. "What's that?"

"Your curiosity is way too high tonight," Wolf said before chuckling. "Chances are this will prove to be very benefitial to me if you do want to know the secret I have about Fox."

The World Traveler thought for a moment.

"I need you to shut up for this," Wolf said as he uncrossed his arms. "By no reason you're not allowed to tell this to anybody, not even Fox, and not even to someone in private. You already saw how everything turned at the workshop after Fox yelled at that girl for divulging his past to everyone. My own secret, however, can really hurt my reputation."

Chris gasped as he just noticed that Wolf's dark claw was about to touch his chin. His dark claw glowed thanks to the Hand of Doom attack.

"Even if you try to threaten me by telling someone this, I won't hesitate to resort to drastic measures...and no one will be able to protect you either..." Wolf muttered as the World Traveler looked shocked. "I don't care if I die as long as unrequired scum doesn't piss me off..."

Chris shook a bit. "Y-you're EVIL when you need to..."

Wolf grinned. "Do we have a deal or what?"

"W-what makes you think I need to know about that?" Chris asked. "Will it make any difference to me if I know that secret?"

"Maybe," Wolf said. "It could possibly help you grasp Fox even better than before...and not to mention myself... C'mon, kid, your biggest weakness is that you really crave for important events in the pass of somebody you want to know more. I shouldn't be that different, right?"

Cornered.

"...I-I do want to know more about Fox...and possibly you..." Chris said with a gulp. "W-will you please lower that creepy claw of yours?"

Wolf grunted a bit and lowered his claw which instantly turned back to normal. The lupine put a hand on his left hip and looked at Chris. "Then, do you want to hear about the secret I have so you can do me a favor later on?"

"...I-I'm not so sure, but..." Chris thought for a moment before sighing. "Okay, I think we have a deal..."

"Cool," Wolf said with a nod. "Alright, kid, I trust you're not going to tell this to anybody, not even the blue dog, right?"

"No..." Chris nodded. "You have my trust."

"Okay, then," Wolf said before clearing his throat with a cough. "You're probably wondering why I've been focusing on Fox lately, right?"

"Yes..."

"Well, to be honest, I wouldn't be doing this kind of thing," Wolf said. "I despise Fox a lot because he's way too cocky like somebody else I knew before him... Ironically, that same person was the one who told me to anonymously...take care of Fox..."

Chris gasped silently. "Wait, you're...you're taking care of Fox?"

Wolf nodded. "Very out-of-character for a person like me, huh?"

"B-but why?" Chris asked. "I thought you 2 were rivals that would want to beat each other to death...and then do the same thing all over again..."

"Yeah, but unfortunately, I'm chained to this promise that keeps coming out every time I look at Fox," Wolf said. "This promise was made by that person who asked me to take care of him..." He looked serious. "I'll let you guess who it is."

Chris thought for a moment. "I-I don't know..."

"Time out, then," Wolf said with a frown. "The person who asked me to take care of Fox...was none other than his father himself."

The World Traveler looked surprised. "Y-you don't mean..."

"Yeah," Wolf said. "I'm talking about my first rival I crossed paths with a long time ago...James McCloud, better known as Fox's father to many."

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Fly Away in the Violet Sky

The lonesome ruins underneath the fields between Aquios and Surferio remained very silent. The light of the moon entered through cracks on the long ceiling that gave the ruins a dark atmosphere where crickets chirped endlessly.

However, someone had snuck inside during the whole day. Sobs and sniffs echoed in the peaceful ruins as, in a previously discovered area that was located at the center of the hanging floors, was a lone figure clutching to her knees as she leaned against a small pedestal.

The center of the platforms wasn't the same as the other platforms. This particular platform was very wide and long enough to hold a lot of people. The floor had plants and flowers adorning the edges over the walls that all lead to the precipice down below. The floor also had a staircase that directed to the previous floor to the south of an arch with a blue gem on its top and center. To the north area of the floor, a small staircase directed to a small hole where a monster used to be before Fayt and the others came to destroy it.

Peppita sobbed and sniffed silently to herself as she looked down behind her legs. The Velbaysian had fled in the garden after the argument she had with Fox. Peppita decided to hide away by re-visiting the aquatic garden by herself, knowing that nobody would look for her in an area they already investigated to find the Spagonia Temple.

"H-he's such a big jerk..." Peppita muttered between sobs. "I-I can't believe I let myself get fooled because of that insensitive bastard..." she cried a bit with a sniff. "I-I don't want to see him or anybody else after that..." she muttered. "He deserves to be punished one of these days for yelling at me like that..." Peppita cried more as she embraced her legs. "H-he's such an idiot!" she yelled loudly before sobbing louder.

Without her knowing, she didn't see that a figure floated towards her from the arch.

"...I don't wanna see Fox anymore..." Peppita muttered. "...After all...we weren't meant to be for each other...I...admit that..."

"Oh, is that right, little girl?"

Peppita suddenly looked up to find a figure in some sort of floating...whatever it was. A floating chair. "W-who are you?" Peppita asked. "L-leave me alone! I don't want to see anybody ever again!"

"My, what an immature behavior," the person said, making Peppita gasp. "Weren't you taught to listen to adults?"

"W-what do you know, anyway?" Peppita asked angrily as she looked down behind her legs. "I didn't ask you to come here and bother me any longer! I'm really mad right now so go away!"

"..."

The person on the floating seat was Dr. Eggman. The scientist apparently came back to look for the temple in the same spot he previously had fled when the others were about to attack him. The scientist remembered Peppita being there with them before.

"Hmm..." Dr. Eggman rubbed his chin. "Why are you here all alone by yourself? I thought you were supposed to be with that pesky hedgehog and the others."

Peppita looked up angrily at him. "I don't wanna see any of them anymore, you dork..." she muttered before lowering her face. "I don't wanna see anybody..."

"Why's that?" Dr. Eggman asked. "You look a little bit sad for my tastes..."

"You shouldn't know," Peppita said without looking at him. "It's something very intimate that a bastard made me get this sad..."

"So I take somebody made you get like this and cry all night..."

Peppita gasped. "N-no, that's not what I meant to say..."

"Really now?" Dr. Eggman asked with a chuckle. "Well, I do know very well that was your reason to be here...or it is the reason..."

"Go away and leave me alone!" Peppita yelled as she looked up at him. "It's none of your business to talk to me at all! Y-you're evil, I know that!"

"Perhaps," Dr. Eggman said. "Is somebody looking for you or have you just came here right now?"

"Nobody shouldn't be looking for me... I came here ever since afternoon..." Peppita muttered with a sniff. "I-I've been crying and sobbing in peace to feel much better...b-but you're not helping me feel any better..."

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "Well, well, maybe I can take advantage of this unfortunate situation..."

Peppita looked confused at him. "W-what do you mean? What are you going to do?"

Dr. Eggman grinned. "Oh, very simple," he said as he clicked a button on his machine. "Why, it shouldn't need explanations that much."

Peppita gasped once a catching net was shot out from the front part of Dr. Eggman's floating machine. The Velbaysian stood up to run away, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge the net that captured her underneath. Peppita screamed and tried to get out, but she gasped after she saw that the spheres that were attached all over the net's edges turned into drills that dug themselves into the floor in order for her not to escape easily, trapping her under it.

"H-hey, stop this!" Peppita yelled as she tried to break through the net. "W-what are you trying to do to me?!"

"Oh, my bad," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle. "I guess I DO need explanations...or it's you," he said. "Very well, little girl. I shall tell you what I'm going to do with you."

Peppita looked worried. "W-what would that be?"

"I am going to use you as...hmm...what's the word? Oh yes, hostage," Dr. Eggman said before Peppita gasped. "If someones dares to appear here and be a hero or heroine, I'm going to have you zapped but good with the same net you're underneath."

Peppita's eyes widened once she saw some sparks jumping from some of the sides of the net she was in.

"The voltage shouldn't kill you with one shot, but it could finish you off with 20 tries," Dr. Eggman explained with a snicker. "Just think about it. You're going to be a very useful little girl for me."

"I-I'd never help you out!" Peppita yelled angrily. "I-I don't want to deal with this stupidity as well! L-let me go!"

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "I'm not going to listen to such an immature little girl like you."

Peppita gasped.

"Why would I listen to such an immature girl like you?"

"I-I'm not immature..." Peppita muttered with a sniff as she recalled Fox's harsh words. "I-I'm a very mature girl..."

"Bah, nonsense," Dr. Eggman said. "You're better off being a childish girl like you are now. Pfft, children becoming mature, please..."

"T-that's not true!" Peppita cried out. "Y-you don't understand me!"

"And you don't understand me either," Dr. Eggman pointed out. "Children are supposed to respect adults, don't they?"

Peppita took a step back and looked away. "...Y-yeah...I-I guess..." Peppita muttered before glaring at the scientist. "B-but I DO know I shouldn't be nice to a guy like you ever!"

Dr. Eggman grumbled. "There you go again... No wonder why you got here by yourself."

Peppita shook her head. "I-I didn't get here because of that!"

"No, you really did come all the way here because of that," Dr. Eggman said as he looked serious at her. "You're making such a big deal over an insignificant thing like your maturity which you don't have."

The Velbaysian felt that this was like some sort of repeat of the event that took place during the afternoon. Peppita's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head to the scientist.

"Your expressions prove my point," Dr. Eggman said. "It had something to do with you being immature to someone of that group."

"N-no!"

"Oh, yes, it is," he said. "I can easily tell you were nagging a single person, and that same person snapped out of it and yelled at you."

"T-that's not true!" Peppita yelled. "H-how can you tell all that?!"

"Little girl, I use common sense and logic," Dr. Eggman said. "My IQ is remarked for being the most talented there is."

"Y-you're just guessing, that's all!" Peppita yelled before she covered her face. "I-I don't want to stay here and listen to you!"

"Oh, too bad," Dr. Eggman said as he moved his right hand in the air. "You decided to come here, I decided to come here, and now you will be a very important human shield for me to do anything I please here and finally find the location of the Spagonia Temple."

Peppita uncovered her face and looked at him. "T-too bad because we already came here and we didn't find that temple anywhere..."

Dr. Eggman looked bored at her. "And I take you didn't look very well around here?"

Peppita looked confused. "W-what?"

Dr. Eggman nodded. "You probably just looked around this long hanging floor with staircases and monsters," he said. "You probably didn't look down, though..."

"B-but there shouldn't be nothing down here..." Peppita muttered. "W-well, that's what we thought..."

The scientist frowned. "For your information, the temple is ironically right under this very same platform."

The Velbaysian's eyes dilated. "W-what?"

"Yes, it is indeed right below this platform," Dr. Eggman said with a chuckle. "It's not easy to find with the naked eye, you know. The temple happens to be hidden behind taller buildings as their central point. Also, the temple's color is different from the pale light green color of everything in here," he explained. "You should have looked below, but it's very good to know you were such a bunch of dorks."

Peppita grunted angrily at this.

"Now, now, I don't want to see that angry expression of yours," Dr. Eggman said as he clicked a button that shot a hand claw at Peppita's net. The Velbaysian gasped and covered her face with her arms as the claw grabbed the net and pulled her off from the floor. The drills suddenly joined together to completely trap Peppita in it as the net hung down below Dr. Eggman's machine, prompting her to stand on the ropes so her legs wouldn't fall in the holes, her hands grabbing the net in fear. "Be good and stay quiet."

"L-let me go right now!" Peppita demanded as she shook the ropes. "I don't want to stay with you!" Peppita's demands stopped once the ropes zapped her hands a bit enough to make her fall down on the ropes, scared.

"Stop making things worse for you," Dr. Eggman said. "If you start to annoy me even more, I'm going to have to use drastic measures..."

The Velbaysian couldn't look up at the scientist anymore from the spot she was now. Peppita looked sadly at this and frowned to herself. "T-this is just so unfair..." Peppita muttered in defeat.

"You know what is else is unfair?" Dr. Eggman asked. "It's unfair for you to behave like a bad girl."

Peppita sniffed and embraced her legs again. "W-why did this have to happen to me?"

Dr. Eggman frowned. "This happened to you because you didn't listen well enough to understand what the other people told you not to for sure," he said. "After all, that always happens when children like you act immature."

Peppita sobbed a bit as she reminded herself about the incident at the workshop. She recalled Fox's words once more; the words that hurt her the most.

"What the hell did I tell you about not telling absolutely ANYONE about what happened that night?"

"Why would I EVER fall in love with such a immature girl like you?!"

"What the heck makes you think that makes you mature at all?!"

"Nice things? Do you call all that crap nice things?"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

Peppita's eyes filled with tears before she started to cry silently to herself. The scientist frowned to himself as he looked to the left.

"Well, it's better not to say anything to you so you shut up and calm down," Dr. Eggman said. "I better get this done as soon as possible..."

Peppita thought that it was her fault that all of this happened. She thought she should had listened to Fox's demands before, but she didn't think she would end up being a hostage for the enemy. The Velbaysian was completely at a loss. Peppita thought nobody would look for her due to the fact they didn't know where she was. Every single route for salvation was closed for her, and that only made matters worse.

In a few words, Peppita was going down to the wrong path...

"...Hmm?" Dr. Eggman looked around. "Somebody is approaching..."

Peppita sniffed a few times before slowly looking up. "W-what?"

The Velbaysian suddenly heard some footsteps coming from the south of the floor they were both on. The 2 persons looked to their left where a serious Smashers stood under the arch of the staircase, his glaring eyes focusing on Dr. Eggman as his fists were tightened on both sides of his hips, making him look like he was ready to attack.

"..." Peppita blinked surprised before she looked away and frowned in shame.

Dr. Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Oh, what do we have here now?" The scientist said before turning to the Smasher. "It seems somebody did look for you, pesky girl..."

The Smasher under the arch was Fox. The vulpine had found Peppita in the garden just as he expected. Dr. Eggman could tell the leader of Star Fox was looking at him with a death glare. "What the hell are you doing here..." Fox muttered in an angry tone. "Why do you have her in that net?"

Dr. Eggman grinned and chuckled. "What's up with that harsh demand?" he asked amused. "You don't like to see your dear little friend in this nice net?"

Fox looked mad at him. "Let her go right now or else..."

"Hmph, threatening me isn't going to work for you," Dr. Eggman said. "If you want her to be free, you'll have to listen to what I want to do here."

Fox shook his head. "I told you to release her at once. What can't you understand?"

Peppita looked at Fox from the corner of her eyes. The menacing glare that Fox had made her shake in fear, not wanting to look back at him. Peppita thought Fox was still mad at her, and she didn't want to talk to him, thinking she would only enrage himeven more than before.

"I understand I have no right to listen to a furry like you," Dr. Eggman said. "What good will it bring to me if I do listen to you?"

"I'll tell you," Fox said. "You're going to get away from here unscathed if you let her go. Otherwise you're going to get injured pretty badly."

"Hahahahaha," Dr. Eggman laughed a bit. "Sorry, but I just can't do that. You see, the Spagonia Temple is waiting for me down here. I do not want to lose anymore time with a guy like you." The doctor turned to the right along with the trapped Peppita who still looked away from Fox.

Suddenly, before Dr. Eggman could hover off the floor, a laser shot rose in front of his face. The scientist stopped his way to the abyss before he looked back at the vulpine, holding his phase gun from Maria tightly in his right hand.

"Also," Fox began as his look retained its menacing glare. "I failed that shot on purpose."

"..." Dr. Eggman slowly turned to him and shook his head. "Getting cocky, aren't you?"

Fox lowered his phase gun and kept glaring at Dr. Eggman. "We can do this the good civilized way or the bad violent way. Which one are you going to choose?" he asked.

"Well..." Dr. Eggman rubbed his chin a bit. "Both sound so tempting..."

The vulpine moved his face down, but his eyes were still fixated on the doctor.

Trading Town of Peterny
Inn - Hallway

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - So Alone, Be Sorrow

The World Traveler stared at Wolf in surprise. "...Fox's dad told you to look after Fox?"

Wolf nodded. "That's how things are, kid."

"B-but..." Chris shook his head. "I-I don't understand this... Why would you take care of Fox? Aren't you supposed to hate his guts to the bitter end or something like that?"

"Yeah, we do that," Wolf admitted. "But we don't necessarily kill each other."

"What does that mean?" Chris asked.

"Look, if I ever finished Fox off, I wouldn't be able to find any worthy opponents out there in the Lylat System to have some fun," Wolf explained. "I have to admit Fox has what it takes to be my rival...but when you think about it, it sounds so twisted for me to be his rival due to how different we are."

"Why?"

Wolf frowned. "Kid, I better tell you this from scratch. You need to know how I ended up meeting James."

Chris looked worried. "Okay, so I know you met James before but..."

"Let me continue," Wolf said before clearing his throat. "So anyway..."

Flashback

Fichina
Sky

The cold region of Fichina was shown. Small sleets swept the land from time to time as the light from the sun shone brightly on the glittering surface of icecap. Some clouds were floating away into the blue and orange sky to the east as the shadows of some ships quickly zoomed by.

"I first met James when I started my moves around the Lylat System in Katrina," Wolf narrated. "By that time, I was a young thug who recently started his thievery and crimes. Back then, I was totally different than I am now."

"How?" Chris asked.

"I...was very headstrong," Wolf admitted. "I was very easy to anger. I didn't have the best control in temper. My rage easily made my own affairs even harder...and I didn't know that at all. I was very blind myself," he explained. "That bothersome attitude was there for a long time, and I didn't do a thing to change it. My temper, even worse, made me lose many battles against him..."

"James?"

"Exactly," Wolf said. "When I was doing that task in Katrina as I was almost going to escape by myself, I was suddenly bombarded by shots from an unknown vessel from the sky. When I looked up, it was the first time I ever met James McCloud..." he narrated. "This initial attack made me so angry that I became enraged, and before I knew it, I found myself fighting against who was surely worthy of being called my nemesis...and rival..."

"I see..."

"The first battle I had against James didn't come out well for me," Wolf said. "He always managed to find a way to attack me with full force. I was getting so desperate during all those occasions. It was just like I was an easy read for him to grasp my moves. I couldn't believe it, but James knew how to take me down without doing any effort. That defeat also blinded me when I found out the weapon I was carrying under my Wolfen had disappeared. Surely, James took it when I wasn't looking."

"Aren't you supposed to be an expert at dogfights?"

"I thought I was," Wolf said. "However, James proved to me that he was the best out of the 2...I give him that..."

"It's...hard to believe you're saying that..."

"Believe me, I said otherwise most of the time with every single defeat I suffered..." Wolf frowned. "I never, ever won a single time against James... It was so frustrating to admit he was a better fighter than I was. No matter how much I improved my skills, he always found a way around them all. I wanted to be flawless, but that's just a foolish thought..."

"...Please, tell me more..."

"...James taught me many things that I constantly ignored with each defeat," Wolf said. "His stupid cocky nature made me so angry every time he managed to talk to me between battles. Whenever I looked at him, he always grinned and taunted me a lot like I was some sort of living toy for him. I wanted to destroy the screen where he always appeared, but I always found myself unable to do it due to the fact I was already taken down to the ground..."

"Okay..."

"It was always the same thing... I developed a crazy obsession to defeat him ever since I started to do crimes," Wolf explained. "After the 5th or 6th crime I committed, my fury grew so much that I set a personal goal to take James down so he would leave me alone...but that was just part of his plan, at least that was what I thought."

"Why did you think that?"

"I thought that mainly because he always laughed in amusement with every fight we had," Wolf explained. "That hare and Pigma didn't do a thing to help James out because he always told them to stay put and let him handle me. He was so darn overconfident of skills with that Arwing of his. I cursed loudly to the sky whenever I was taken down. Thanks to my constant crimes, a big bounty was put on my head for discrupting the peace all over the Lylat System. However, James nor the officials never caught me... I was very lucky for making my gateway to freedom."

"I think so..." Chris muttered.

"The day I knew I could take him down once and for all was the same day I last heard of him..."

"...The incident with Andross, you mean..."

"Yeah," Wolf said. "I've got word from some sources that the mad scientist Andross was exiled to Venom. When I heard that he was going to start an intergalactic war against Corneria and the other nations, I knew James and Team Star Fox would go to help out. Knowing from experience, James had what it took to bring Andross to justice..."

"And...I can assume you..."

"I knew James was going to do the mission," Wolf said. "By that time over the years, Team Star Fox had become the most specialized team that stopped any kind of crimes across the galaxy mostly thanks to James and his leadership. Whenever I got the chance, I usually concealed my appearance to mix with the crowd just to read the headings of newspapers to see if there were notices, and the notices were always there about the victories of Star Fox. It made me so angry to see James's confident grin in every single photo I saw with Peppy and Pigma by his sides."

"...What else happened?"

"Well, the last day I last saw James was the last encounter I had against him," Wolf explained. "And I remember everything about it..."

Shots blared out furiously over the frozen scenery as a fast Arwing zoomed by followed by a fast Wolfen that pursued it from behind it. The Wolfen's red shots couldn't land a single hit at the swift Arwing as a young Wolf gritted his fangs in anger. "Play time will be finally over, James McCloud!" the thug proclaimed angrily. "This shall be the day where you will fall down and rot to death at last!"

"Am I counting on that, though?"

The young Wolf hopped a bit surprised before he glared down at the small screen in the center of his board with flashing buttons and levers. There was the image of the grinning James saluting him. "What's so funny now?" Wolf asked with a snarl. "Why are you grinning for?"

"Funny," James said with a chuckle. "Last time I recall, this is the 137th time my play time is over. I wonder, why am I still playing out here?" he asked amused. "Would it be because nobody has stopped me yet from ending my play time? It's been like 7 or so years since I last started my fun time."

"Shut up, you little weasel," Wolf muttered as he glared at him. "You're not to get away with again today. I'm going to make sure you and your team don't make it to Venom that easily."

James raised an eyebrow. "How do you know we were going to Venom? Are you stalking us? Geez, if you keep going like that, you're going to turn into a creepy stalker with a freaky obsession to guys like me."

Wolf grunted. "You're the ONLY guy in the whole galaxy who can't mind his mouth during an aerial fight. Now stay focused or else you're gonna kiss the snow down below in a minute!"

[DededeCloneChris]

"How ironic you say that, actually," James said with a chuckle. "I was about to tell you that myself."

Wolf narrowed his glare at him. "What is that supposed to mean exactly, James?"

Suddenly, Wolf's Wolfen found itself being under attack by a flurry of blue shots from behind. The lupine watched in anger as the wings of the Wolfen were shot down in a matter of seconds. Grunting in complete fury, the lupine looked back where James attacked him with a full assault of shots.

"H-how the heck did you manage to sneak behind me?!" Wolf demanded. "Answer me, you stupid cocky idiot!"

James chuckled as he stopped his attacks. "Well, I was talking with this guy a moment ago. I noticed he wasn't looking where I was going so I decided to do a loop and take advantage of his argument against me."

"What?!"

"If you didn't know," James began," I was talking about you...again."

"And yet again, James had me where he wanted me to be..." Wolf narrated. "I felt down once again by his tricks he put on me... James knew I was not match for him in that last encounter..."

In his cockpit, Wolf began to see a red warning alarm that illuminated his space. The lupine looked down at the screen where it showed a summary of the damage reports. From what he could see, the wings of the Wolfen were taken out, an engine was set on fire, and the main machine that allowed the Wolfen to fly faster was burning with smoke. Wolf looked shocked at this before he found himself spiraling down at the ice field, screaming loudly as he covered his face with his arms, his Wolfen finally crashing down abruptly on the snow.

James decided to slow down and circle around the big smoke signal that the Wolfen made. Raising an eyebrow, the previous leader of Star Fox narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"When I crashed down...I found out I was stuck in the Wolfen," Wolf said as his past self was seen knocked out, a trail of blood scrolling down from the right side of his head. "

The flames that covered my Wolfen didn't disappear, and they quickly covered every single part of it. When I woke up, I grunted to myself after I wanted to open the upper window, but the front part of the Wolfen was stuck in the snow, with the upper window also blocked by the darn snow. I slowly fainted due to the smoke that leaked in my space, and I started to curse myself loudly in my mind before I could die..."

"But..." Chris looked confused. "What happened after that? You surely survived somehow..."

"I did survive..." Wolf said with a frown. "But I didn't escape from the Wolfen... Someone else did it for me..."

The young Wolf didn't know why, but he found himself opening his eyes to see the clouds on the starry sky as he lay down on the soft snow. He knew he was trapped inside the Wolfen, but he didn't know he did escape from a certain death. Slowly getting up as he rubbed his forehead, Wolf found a wrecked Wolfen several feet away from him. "W-what did just happen?" Wolf asked as he looked in surprise at his fallen vessel. "I-I was sure I was going to die after I was shot down by..."

"Glad to have you alive in a whole piece."

Wolf blinked surprised before he turned around to find an Arwing safely parked on the soft snow as James was sitting on top of the white ship while he rested his right arm on his right knee, looking down at lupine.

"McCloud?" Wolf said confused before he shook his head and glared at him. "I mean, what the hell did just happen here?"

James chuckled and jumped down to the snow. Once he landed safely on the terrain, James grinned at the glaring Wolf. "Isn't it obvious? I just saved your butt from getting burned alive," James said as he walked to Wolf and stopped, standing 10 feet away from him.

"...What?" Wolf asked in disgust. "...You, from all people, saved me?"

"Yeah, what's so wrong about it?" James asked amused. "I thought you wouldn't mind if I saved you."

"Oh, I DO mind, idiot," Wolf said with a snarl. "I thought you were going to leave me here and die in this cold hell. Now that you saved me out of the blue, what do you think I'm going to do next?"

"Say thanks to me for not letting you burn alive and then get frozen inside a big popsicle because of your recklessness?"

"What? No!" Wolf yelled angrily before pointing at him. "What I'm going to do next is get away from you so we can have another battle very soon!"

James crossed his arms and sighed. "Oh, okay..."

"..." Wolf looked mad. "Wait, why did that response sound bored? Are you mocking me?"

James frowned. "There you go again, thinking things I didn't mean to say..."

Wolf made a fist by his right side as he stared at James with some anger. "Am I now, then?"

James nodded. "You know, I don't feel threatened very much by you at all."

Wolf grunted a bit. "Well, then stop telling me that crap, James. I don't need your stupid sympathy. Save it only for you."

"I take that you're not glad I saved your life?"

The lupine turned away. "...Like I'm going to owe you this. You just made a big mistake, McCloud. Letting your enemy stay alive is gonna be one of the worst mistakes you've ever done before in your life."

James chuckled. "Believe me; you'll be glad I let you live by saving you."

Wolf turned back to me. "What was that? You like all the challenges I put on you?"
James lifted his shoulders. "Sure, I don't mind them. All your challenges turn out to be almost the same thing."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, it is," James said. "Ever since the 12th fight, I could have ignored you altogether."
Wolf snarled at him. "Don't try to piss me off even more, I'm warning you..."

"I'm not trying to," James said. "I'm just telling you what you've been quite wrong all these years."

"I don't need your stupid advice," Wolf said. "I'm better off by myself, thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

This response made Wolf grunt annoyed.

"So go away now," Wolf said with a frown. "Leave me alone for the time being and go finish that business with Andross so we can have another fight."

James sighed. "Wolf, seriously, when are you going to learn to correct your mistakes?"

"I'll learn to correct those frequently mentioned mistakes once I take you down myself," Wolf said with a glare.

"..." James remained silent. "Then that means you will never defeat me."

"Grrrrrrrr..." Wolf grunted as he gritted his fangs.

"Sorry, but I do happen to know even better than you," James explained.

Wolf almost wanted to stand in a fighting position. "If you know that stupid belief, then why the hell do you always come to stop me from doing my crimes?"

"I know you can change for the better."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm fine as I am now."

"Are you really sure of that?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you ask me, you have...potential to be a dangerous criminal," James said.

"And I'm not supposed to be one by now?!" Wolf asked angrily.

"Tell me one time where you've gotten away with the stuff you tried so hard to steal."
Wolf remained silent and looked down and away, his right fist rose at his shoulder's level.

"Now you see?" James asked.

"Shut up..." Wolf muttered before he kicked some snow away angrily. "Shut the hell up, James! I don't need your advice, you little piece of s-"

"Calm down now," James interrupted him. "You just turned out to be alive. You shouldn't overexert yourself like that."

"What do you know?" Wolf asked as he turned around. "You know what, I'm out of here. I'm sick of listening to your pointless talk."

"Fine, be that way," James said uninterested. "I wanted to ask you something to do for me, but now that you're like this..."

The lupine grunted and turned to him. "What? Why do you want me to do you a favor? Do I look like a friend to you?"

"Yeah."

Wolf snarled angrily once again. "What are you thinking now exactly?"

James lifted his shoulders. "Meh, nothing. Just asking you to do me a favor."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "If it's about me, then I'm not doing it... T-that doesn't mean I'm going to do a favor to you in the future either!" he said angrily.

"Wolf, just listen," James said in a serious tone. "You do know I'm in the middle of a trip to Venom to make sure what's happening over there, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

James looked down. "I've heard that Andross is the most dangerous criminal scientist of the whole system. I've seen all the incidents he had caused in Corneria. I can tell you Andross shouldn't be taken lightly. Heck, I don't know if I'm ready to confront him head on."

Wolf grinned as he chuckled. "Ooh, what's the matter with you? Are you feeling scared for some mad scientist? I thought you were overconfident of your skills, James."

"I'm not overconfident," James said. "I'm just confident. Overconfident people only beg to die earlier as they say. That's why I'm just being simply confident." He shook his head. "Enough about that, though. I want you to d-"

"Look, maybe this is very crucial for you, but why is it important for me to listen?" Wolf asked with a glare. "Does it have something rewarding for me?"

"You bet your wrecked Wolfen that it is crucial," James chuckled. "Since you've been some kind of creepy stalker to me, you do know I have a family, right?"

"No," Wolf said. "I don't know that because I'm NOT a creepy stalker as you say."

"Good enough," James said. "Well, I was just wondering something..."

Wolf turned away.

"Do you know I have a son?"

Wolf looked at him over his right shoulder. "No, I don't know or don't care if you have a son."

"Well, start caring because this has to do with my son," James said with a grin. "I'm telling you, that son of mine is a real prodigy that shows some good traits. When he turned 11, he already knew how to handle an Arwing by himself."

"Did I ask about your son?" Wolf asked. "Get to the point, McCloud. I have some business to do somewhere else."

"Would that include getting a new Wolfen?"

Wolf looked at his wrecked Wolfen. "...Yeah," he said. "I don't want to stay here any longer talking with you. However, knowing you, you're going to keep bugging me with that favor you want to ask me to do... Whatever it is, I'm surely going to say no."

James chuckled. "Looks like you're calming down. Well, this is much better," he admitted. "Now I can tell you for sure that my favor will benefit you in some way or another."

"...Tsk," Wolf muttered with a frown. "Spill it out so we end this. I have better things to do."

"Very well," James said before he thought for a moment something. "Wolf...would you look after my son for me?"

At this sudden question, the lupine turned around and glared at James. "What the hell does that mean, James? Why are you asking me the work you're supposed to do?" he snarled. "Do I look like a babysitter to you or what? Stop mocking me!"

James shook his head. "No, I'm serious," he said. "Even if you know I've beaten you in all our encounters doesn't mean I'm going to come back unscathed from Venom," he explained. "Heck, all the other missions I've done besides taking you on are harder."

Wolf gritted his fangs at this statement.

"However, this one threatens the whole planetary system," James said. "It's been a rumor that Andross is planning to launch a full assault to all the planets in order to conquer them all. The Corneria Army doesn't know if this is true, but it's most likely that it'll happen very soon if I don't get where Andross is."

"Are you worried or what?"

"Frankly speaking...yeah," James said. "Do you really think a team of 3 people can withstand whatever Venom hides? That planet is the most rotten place many people know. Since Andross had been exiled to that place, it's unknown if he's still alive."

"If you're saying that, then why do you think he's still alive?" Wolf asked. "As far I know the atmosphere of that planet is deadly."

"There have been recent reports of some small groups of lizard people that have been saying that they work for Andross," James said as he crossed his arms. "I know that because I've fought those groups myself. They were insane, saying foolish things about the birth of a new empire by Andross. When I reported this to the army, they didn't believe he was still alive, so I was requested to inspect Venom. Peppy made preparations to our Arwings so we could get into the planet and see if we could find Andross in there."

Wolf kept staring at James.

"It's been 5 years since he was last seen," James said. "However, I have a hunch he's still living because of those groups I've fought before."

"...Okay," Wolf said. "What does this have to do with you, your son, and me of all people?"

"I'm not sure if I'm going to succeed in this mission like all the other ones I've been doing all these years..." James said unsure. "Andross had done many good deeds for Corneria a long time ago before he got corrupted for lust of power. His intelligence is very dangerous, and I know well he could be plotting something extremely catastrophic," he explained. "...That's why I'm asking you to look after Fox for me..."

"...I can assume your kid's name is Fox McCloud..."

"Yeah, that's his full name," James said.

"..." Wolf shook his head. "Forget it."

James only grumbled a bit at this.

"I'm not going to look after you son, James," Wolf said. "How's that even going to benefit me?"

"Well..." James trailed off. "...You could challenge my son someday..."

Wolf blinked a few times. "What?" He stared at James. "Why would I challenge your son?"

James chuckled. "Well, I could say he's at your level..."

"Blasphemy," Wolf said. "There's no way I'm going to help you out with that kind of favor. Besides, I know you're gonna come unscathed from Venom. If I say yes now, I could make a huge mistake and let you laugh behind my back," he said. "Sorry, but I ain't gonna be babysitting your son."

James sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Okay, I understand," he said before tilting his head. "Let me tell you this, though," he continued with a cough. "I know something very well about Fox."

"Like I care," Wolf commented.

"No, seriously, let me continue," James said. "Fox is gonna be a prodigy very soon. I can see that determination in his eyes. He just needs some years before he turns out into a full-fledged man of my team. I'm planning to allow him to join my team and work alongside Peppy, Pigma, and I."

"So?" Wolf asked.

"However, he has a long way to go to learn certain things I can't seem to teach him properly," James said. "But...you...you can do it..."

Wolf glared angrily at him. "You're trying to say I have the ability to teach your useless son how to become a real threat to me?"

James grinned. "Nah, don't worry about it, Wolf. Fox can give you a very good challenge like me. I can tell you that you have the upper hand in taking him down as much as you want. Can you see how he progresses, though?"

Wolf frowned. "James, the only thing I'm going to do to your son is assassinate him rather than making sure he's alive. You'll regret telling me all of this pointless crap very soon."

"Or will you?" James asked amused. "Fox is not stupid, Wolf. He could easily grow to be an intergalactic hero."

Wolf turned around and shook his head. "James...shut up," he muttered.

James merely kept staring at him.

The lupine looked at him over his right shoulder again. "I admit you're being so annoyingly vague with me."

James lifted his shoulders. "Fox could teach you a lot of things I couldn't teach you."

"...Now I know you're saying a lot of bulls(beep)t," Wolf said as he gritted his fangs a bit before turning to the empty lands of snow. "Go away from here and leave me alone. I don't have more time to waste with a cocky scum like you. Also, I don't have time to take care of YOUR scum either."

James chuckled again, making Wolf think about ripping his head off. "I assure you're going to be fighting my own son yourself," he said amused. "He's gonna teach you a lot. You're eventually going to be the most feared thug if you fight him. And also, you're gonna teach him stuff in return."

"Like you know what the future holds for me," Wolf said before he spotted two Arwings coming from the south. "Your little team is here. Get away, now."

James watched as Peppy and Pigma landed their Arwings and jumped out from them. Peppy looked a bit worried as Pigma looked bored at the situation. "J-James!" Peppy yelled as he ran to James, stopping some feet away from him. "Phew, I'm glad to see you're OK." He looked at the wrecked Wolfen and Wolf. "...You defeated him again, right?"

"Yeah," James said. "We don't have enough time to be here any longer. We have to reach Venom as soon as possible."

"Finally," Pigma said with a sigh. "I was getting ALL bored flying around this cold ball you call planet. I hope I don't do this ever again."

"Well, your wish has come true," James said with a grin. "We're taking off."
Peppy stared at Wolf. "James, did you..."

Wolf turned to the three and glared at them. "Go away and leave the heck out of me."

The hare grumbled a bit at this before James put a hand on his right shoulder. "C'mon, let's go," James said before he jumped to his Arwing and started the engine. Peppy blinked a couple of times before he went back to his Arwing.

However, Pigma remained behind as he looked at Wolf. The lupine looked at him. The Star Fox pilot stared at him before Pigma went to climb his Arwing with James and Peppy.

The lupine watched as the three Arwings took off to the north and disappeared quickly into the sky. Wolf kept staring at the sky before he looked around the empty field of snow.

"...Time to go back home..." he muttered before he started to walk to the west. "...I better start thinking what to do next for our next encounter..." He frowned. "Tsk, him not coming back alive from going to Venom... Just...what is he thinking?"

The lupine kept wondering more about James as he slowly disappeared into the distance.

"And that was the last time I saw James..." Wolf narrated. "Ever since that day, I haven't seen him anywhere. I heard the rumors that he died when he went to confront Andross."

"I see..." Chris said. "...But..."

"It was also around that time that I decided to form my own team," Wolf said. "I still lived in the Sargasso Space Zone during that time. I didn't have as much members like I do now. I wanted to make sure I could be feared across the Lylat System by recruiting the most talented criminals."

"What about Pigma?"

"Pigma betrayed James and Peppy when they reached Venom," Wolf explained. "I heard from Andross himself that Pigma's greed was just too much for him, and he eventually was convinced to betray James and Peppy as Andross fought James with that abominable form of his with his huge head and hands," he said. "By the time I slowly formed a team. I secretly put my services for sale to get loot from others. When I was minding my own business in the Sargasso Space Zone, an emissary from Andross came and requested me to talk to him personally through a communicator."

"And..."

"Andross introduced me to Pigma," Wolf said. "The bastard wanted to do something where he could do anything without restraints. When I told him I was making up my own team, he didn't hesitate to join me..." He frowned. "But...you probably know what happened to Pigma as the time went by... Anyway, Pigma isn't important."

"Okay, I just wanted to know that..."

"So anyway," Wolf continued. "I heard that James was defined as dead when I got the word of his apparent fate in Venom."

Inn – Hallway

End of flashback

Wolf looked away. "And ever since then, James was nowhere to be found alive..."

The World Traveler stared at Wolf. "...But...what about Fox, then?"

Wolf looked down. "...When I was hired to assassinate Fox's team by Andross when I had made up my team, I fought Fox head on...and...I failed to accomplish the task," he admitted. "James was right about Fox. However, I knew Fox was a little bit worse at attacking and defending, just as James told me. For some reason, I started to see that everything James told me was true."

The World Traveler didn't say a thing to Wolf.

"Fox is the reason why I got this cyber-patch on my left eye," Wolf said as he pointed at his left cyber-patch. "When I fought him at Fichina, I crashed down, but not necessarily died. I got a heavy hit on my left eye after Fox and his team finished their business in the base of the planet," he explained. "Frustrated by that, I told my team to quickly repair our Wolfens to take Star Fox down in Venom. However, even if we came back, we still lost the fight..." He frowned. "...And I was still the same back then until I slowly started to change."

Chris thought for a moment.

"After I lost against Fox, the memories of what James told me began to flood in my head," Wolf said. "I recalled him saying that I needed to put my attitude under my control. He knew I was a complete idiot if I let myself get so angry very easily. After the defeat at Venom, I didn't want to do anything else like crimes for 12 years. During that whole time, it was the time Andrew and Pigma left the team, and I recruited Panther in their place. My turf grew to become one of the most feared places in the galaxy, and I changed, just as James had predicted."

"I see...but...sometimes you still..."

"I know I get angry sometimes...but it's stopping now."

"What?" Chris asked.

"I have to act like a professional," Wolf said. "I will accomplish that from now on after recalling James's words. If I do that, I'll surely become a respectable figure."

"...So you followed James's advice after all?"

"Yeah," Wolf said with a nod. "James was right all along. I started to change slowly during the years of my absence until I achieved my dream...but...there was something that was bothering me."

"What was that?"

"Time after time, when I recalled James's word, the favor he told me always came to mind to bother me," Wolf said. "That memory is still there, reminding me the same favor."

"And the favor was..."

"Take care of Fox," Wolf said, closing his eye. "...Take care of the idiot who would show you that you haven't changed for the better..." He sighed. "I just can't believe my rivalry to James passed on to Fox, a person younger than me, a guy in his 50s."
"Well, I think so too. I mean, Fox is 30 years old and you're FIFTY years old?!" Chris said shocked.

Wolf grinned at him. "If you're asking why I look young is because I keep myself fit all the time so I can keep my youth. I'm telling you another secret: I do a lot of workout when you're not looking."

Chris looked a bit surprised. "W-wow..."

"...That's not important, though," Wolf said. "Back on topic, I refused to do that favor to James mainly because I hated Fox's guts as much as him," he explained. "However, that cocky James managed to make my conscience decide to ultimately...take care of Fox..."
The World Traveler stared at him in silence as Wolf looked down.

"...Of course, I needed to be subtle about it," Wolf said. "I shouldn't go to Fox and tell him stuff like "Be sure you don't get yourself in trouble" or crap like that," he explained. "I had to maintain this secret a secret from Fox or else he would look at me differently or anybody else we knew." Wolf stared at Chris. "Suddenly, I turned out to be some kind of babysitter for Fox just so my conscience could feel fine with James...but...as James said before...it did help become what I am now; what I wanted to be."

"...And then you decided to do the favor for all this time..."

Wolf remained silent before he nodded. "...Yeah...that's the whole story about James, Fox, and me..." He looked serious at Chris. "This has to be still a secret, though. It's bigger than what Fox's past was. All these years I've been secretly making sure Fox was alive by not telling him, or else he'd go easy on me in all the fights we had before in the past," Wolf said. "I trust this secret is going to be safe with you, right?"

"...Of course," Chris said worried. "...You know...you're actually nice..."

Wolf looked away. "I'm being subtly nice, kid, and not entirely nice. I have to keep a reputation, you know."

"Yes, I know," Chris said as he smiled a bit. "And...I'm glad to hear you're not entirely bad either..."

"Don't get me wrong, kid, I'm still a criminal, but I'm just taking a break of that job so this whole stuff of worlds getting conquered by Tabuu doesn't happen," Wolf said. "After all, the Lylat System is my home, and it's would be the same to have some kind of supreme ruler doing whatever the heck he wants to do."

"And also because I took you with us."

"Well, that as well," Wolf said. "However, I guess I could say my stance at the mansion is not that bad," he said with a grin. "I can always see how Fox progresses while I fight him."

Chris chuckled. "That's actually pretty smart of you, Wolf. A little nice and smart... Maybe you did change as James told you before."

"Have I?" Wolf asked. "Well, that idiot was some sort of voice of reason to me..." He coughed a bit. "Okay, kid, now you know why I keep an eye Fox."

Chris rubbed his chin. "You keep an eye on him because you make sure he's progressing for James."

Wolf nodded. "Correct. I never try to make this favor look so obvious with others, but I try to be as secretive as possible about it..."

"Wait, nobody's going to watch this, right? Master Hand projects to the others back at the mansion about our movements...right?"

"They don't stalk your group when you have to rest," Wolf explained. "I'm sure they won't look at us now. I don't want to deal with stalkers, either."

"I-I wouldn't be hurt, right?"

"Depends..." Wolf muttered. "...Enough chit-chat, kid. I told you my reasons behind Fox, and now it's time for you to do me a favor yourself."

"U-unless it doesn't last all the years to come, then I suppose I could listen to you..." Chris said. "...So, what is it?"

"Let me ask you a question," Wolf began. "What would you do if there was a person impersonating you so he or she makes a bad portrayal of your name and identity?"

"Like...some sort of doppelganger?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, just like that. What would you do? Would you be bothered?"

"..." The World Traveler didn't know why Wolf asked him that. "...I think I just...get him or her to talk to me and say why he or she went around using my name and identity... Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to know," Wolf said. "I'd you ask me, I'd punish him severely for doing something that could ruin my image."

"But I don't understand why you're asking me this," Chris said. "I mean, it's kind of unrelated..."

"Okay, I'll get to the point," Wolf said. "However, I'll give you a hint or the whole reason."

"...Okay..."

Wolf crossed his arms. "The Battle Floor at the mansion; a door, to be precise... For some reason, the door can't be opened by just me when I tried to enter by myself when nobody was looking. After I looked at the description on the door, I realized that I needed you and some of them to come along with me so I can discover who's been going around using my name and identity behind that door. I bet I can't enter in there because I have to meet the requirements to do that side-boss battle thing," he explained.

"Huh? Why ask about that floor?"

"It needs visits," Wolf said. "And we're going to be the guests. Besides, I'm sure you'd like to become stronger as I do, kid."

"...That's kind of true..." Chris admitted.

"You can't back up now," Wolf said. "You already made a compromise with me after I spoke to you about James's past."

The World Traveler thought for a moment. "...Okay, it's a deal," he said. "We'll go to the Battle Floor once we have the time, okay?"

"As long as we go in there soon, I'm fine with it," Wolf said. "...However, I have a specific condition for that battle, but I'm going to tell you later. Now's not the time to be talking about that floor." He pointed at the door. "You know what I'm talking about?"

"Y-yes..." Chris recalled what he talked with Wolf. "...It's a little bit unbelievable that..."
"I know."

"...I-I...I-I just can't..." Chris shook his head. "I mean...you...you've been doing..."

"Let's save the talk for later, kid," Wolf said as he grabbed the doorknob of the door. "It's time to make Fox atone for what he has done today to that girl."

"D-do I take that as a sign of you-" Chris stopped talking once Wolf opened the door of the room.

"...What the..." Wolf muttered.

"...Is something wrong?" Chris asked before he walked to his side and looked into the room. "...What..."

After Wolf opened the door to Chris's room, what he didn't expect was Fox's bed empty. It was easy to tell Fox was there before by the fact the bed sheet was all scrambled as it hung on the right side of the bed. Also, the window behind the bed was wide open as the curtains were being dragged along by the wind.

"That bastard..." Wolf muttered as he gritted his fangs. "That's why the room was so silent. The guy escaped right before I came here..." He grunted. "Dammit..."

"O-oh no, where did he go?" Chris asked worried.

"...Over there," Wolf said as he pointed over Fox's bed where the window was wide open..
The World Traveler ran to the window and stuck his face out to look around the town. "W-where did he go now?" Chris asked as Wolf walked to him. "It's not like Fox to just leave without leaving behind a notice or something!"

"That's the reason," Wolf said bluntly.

"...What? Why?"

Wolf thought for a moment. "Didn't you see how Fox looked like all the day after he yelled at that tanned girl? He's been fretting over what happened in the workshop ever since he yelled at her like that."

"...Wow..." Chris said surprised. "You really are looking after Fox because I didn't notice that. I was very focused in my inventions..."

Wolf chuckled a bit at this. "Anyhow, the most logical reason for Fox to leave without telling us would be because he wanted to find her."

"Peppita?"

"Yeah," Wolf said. "From what I could expect is that Fox couldn't live with what he did to her. I'd say he was being unnecessarily harsh on her. These last days, Fox has been very stressed from the expressions he made. When I decided to look after him, I managed to grasp easily what he was thinking."

"...Really?"

Wolf nodded. "Fox is stressed because this world reminds him of that fairy tale book he found. Also, I can easily infer the book was given to him by James. And tell me, what could make Fox feel stressed?"

"Let me think..." Chris thought for a moment. "...He could be stressed because...hm...um...hm..." He looked at Wolf. "...He's stressed because of James..."

"...Correct," Wolf said. "I can tell Fox has been mourning the supposed death of James over all these years. He's been concealing that painful memory in him for this long without showing those emotional wounds."

"B-but..." Chris said. "He always looked very serious and professional all the time..."

"That was just a small facade," Wolf said. "He was hiding that wound for a long time now. I bet Fox has been doing the same thing ever since James disappeared. And if he does see James, then that means that either his mind is playing tricks on him or James...could be possibly alive..."

"...Wait, how do you know all that?" Chris asked.

"Krystal," Wolf simply said. "When she left Star Fox and joined Star Wolf, I grew a little bit curious about her relationship with him. When I wanted to have a talk with her, Krystal was so darn stoic to get info from her because she didn't want to talk about Fox anymore, but I persisted until she explained to me about Fox's visions of James in all the important battles Fox fought before." Wolf rubbed his chin. "If that's true, then that means James is alive...or Fox is just plain insane."

"I-I don't know, though... You really know a lot about Fox..."

"Like I said before, I took care of him all these years in secrecy," Wolf said. "That's enough, though."

Chris looked back at the open window. "So what do we do? Is it alright for Fox to go alone and look for her?"

"It could be possible that the girl escaped from the city..."

"What?"

Wolf looked at the window. "The kid with the furry tail said he looked everywhere but didn't find her. Since that girl is immature, I'd guess she'd try to run away from the place Fox is so she can be alone and question herself about the argument she had with Fox," Wolf theorized. "Furthermore, she surely left the city so nobody would have a chance to find her. Knowing Fox, by now, he should have left the city as well."

The World Traveler looked completely amazed at Wolf's theory.

Wolf raised an eyebrow and looked at Chris. "I'd say let's go and find those 2 before they get in trouble."

"Why?" Chris asked.

"I don't know what monsters live in this planet, kid," Wolf pointed out. "I'm just using common knowledge to track them both down."

"...You know," Chris began as he tilted his head a bit. "Even if you have some evil intentions...you're very good and smart when it comes down to these things. I'm starting to notice that you're becoming really good at what you do."

Wolf looked away. "That idiot James..." He chuckled a bit. "...I'll give him that he was right all along..." He looked back at Chris. "Thanks for that, but we don't have time to waste."

The World Traveler smiled a bit a nodded. "Right, we have to tell the others that Fox left."
Wolf nodded. "It'd be best if we make groups and look for the 2 of them." The lupine turned to the door and walked away where he started to knock on the doors of the hallway.

The World Traveler sighed and chuckled a bit. "Wolf isn't exactly a bad guy..." He looked up at the ceiling. "...I honestly think...he's very cool..." He looked back at the window. "...Just like Fox..." he muttered.

"Hey, kid, get here and give me a hand, will you?"

"C-coming!" Chris yelled as he ran back to the hallway.

Aquatic Garden, Surferio

Dr. Eggman snapped his fingers as he glared at the glaring leader of Star Fox. "You know what; I'm going to jump to the best part now."

Fox narrowed his eyes before he looked under Peppita's net. The vulpine gasped once a dark portal materialized under the net where a cage sprouted out. In the cage, there was another immobile Shadow Nightmare, staring deeply at Fox.

"W-what's this?" Peppita asked, not being able to see what was inside the cage due to the fact she could only see the roof of the cage. "W-what's in there?"

Fox gritted his fangs and looked back at Dr. Eggman. "You, what are you planning to do with that monster?!"

Dr. Eggman chuckled. "You don't want me to feed it with your little girlfriend?"

"W-what?" Peppita asked scared. "F-feed who with me?"

Fox tightened his right fist on his right side of his belt. "You bastard, don't think you're going to do that to her..."

Dr. Eggman grinned. "Ooh, I'm scared. A furry is telling me not to do what I want to do now."

"I said don't do that her..." Fox muttered angrily.

Dr. Eggman grumbled. "Like I said before, I won't listen to you," he said. "This girl has been a little crying rat that's been annoying me for a time now. I wonder what could happen if I throw her at the mercy of the Shadow Nightmare..."

Peppita didn't have any clue about what was happening, but she knew very well something very dangerous was going to happen to her if she didn't do anything. She clenched her eyelids before she broke out crying to Fox. "P-please, save me, Fox! I-I beg of you!"

Fox started to get desperate. He quickly took a step forward, but Dr. Eggman stopped him by opening his right palm down at him. "Stop right there!" Dr. Eggman demanded as he took out a remote control with a red button. "Dare take another step closer and the girl gets it...or the monster will get her."

"Grrrrr..." Fox gritted his fangs.

Dr. Eggman looked amused. "Well, since you seem to be really preoccupied by the girl...maybe we can make a deal here."

"I'm not planning to make a deal with a guy like you," Fox said with a glare. "Let her go, now."

"With one condition, though," Dr. Eggman said as he raised a finger. "I'll let her go if you listen to what I have to say."

Fox fumed a bit. "What is it?"

Dr. Eggman chuckled and pointed at Fox. "If you want her to be okay...you agree to be the Shadow Nightmare's host instead of her."

Fox's eyes dilated in shock after hearing the deal. "What?" he asked before glaring at the scientist menacingly. "Are you kidding me or what?"

"Who's kidding here?" Dr. Eggman asked as Peppita sobbed in terror. "I'm not kidding here. I'll let her go if you become the Shadow Nightmare's host, you little furry." He hopped the remote control a bit on his right palm. "Don't you care about her?"

"I do," Fox said.

Peppita's sobs slowed down a bit as she cleared some tears and looked at Fox's glare.

"But I think what the best is for all of us," Fox declared. "Let her go."

Dr. Eggman shook his head. "Sorry, but that's not how things will work around here. Or you become the host of the Shadow Nightmare, or she becomes the host," Dr. Eggman said. "It's you or her. Do you care a lot for her, or do you care about yourself?"

Fox stared at Peppita, accidentally looking at her with the menacing glare. The leader of Star Fox was met with a hard decision to make. He knew what a Shadow Nightmare could do, but he didn't want to see what would happen if it did use him. "(Either her or me...)" Fox thought. "(...I can't let her feel whatever that monster can do...not after how I treated her back at the workshop...)" Fox clenched his eyelids hard before looking up at Dr. Eggman. "I decided," Fox said.

"What would the choice be?" Dr. Eggman asked.

The vulpine gritted his fangs and clenched his fists before he looked down, his fists raising a bit. "...I'll be the host..."

Peppita gasped. "F-Fox, no!"

Fox looked at her and frowned. "You don't know what you're saying... You don't know what that monster could do to you... And you're just an innocent girl who got scolded unfairly by me..."

Peppita's eyes dilated as they shook in surprise.

"...I don't want you to suffer anymore..." Fox said depressed. "...So please...trust me in this one..."

Dr. Eggman frowned. "Enough of this teary talk, let's begin the show already!"

"Wait!" Fox yelled at him. "First, I want you to let her go before I become the host!"

"Hmm..." Dr. Eggman thought for a moment. "That doesn't sound too bad..."

"...Let her go," Fox said through gritted fangs.

"Let me think..." Dr. Eggman thought for a second. "...Nah."

Fox gasped once the scientist pressed the button of the remote control. Instantly, the cage of the Shadow Nightmare opened up, and the creature slowly walked out of it. Peppita gasped once she saw the back of the shadow monster beneath her. She tried to back away, but there was little space for her to move back due to the net.

After the monster was released, the leader of Star Fox felt a lot of rage as he glared at the Dr. Eggman. "You stupid BASTARD!" Fox yelled at the scientist.

"Hohohohohohohohohohoho! You're quite angry, tonight, aren't you? Hohohohohoho!" Dr. Eggman laughed. "Fool, did you think I was actually going to listen to you? Pfft, you're just wasting your time. However, I'm glad you decided to take her spot. Now the Shadow Nightmare will become probably the most powerful creature once it copies all your abilities, memories, and even fighting prowess."

"...Over my dead body!" Fox yelled angrily.

Dr. Eggman pointed at him. "Shadow Nightmare, I bring you your victim! Go get him!"

The vulpine gasped once the Shadow Nightmare locked its eyes on him. Peppita grabbed the ropes of the net and tried to break out of them as she cried loudly. "No, Fox, get away from here!" she cried out. "Don't let that thing attack you!"

"(Dammit, I need to think of something!)" Fox thought angrily as the monster started to move towards him.

"Don't waste your energy," Dr. Eggman said. "If you land a hit on it, it'll simply absorb your kick and then it'll pull you into it."

"Why are you telling me that?" Fox asked angrily. "That's an advice, not a warning."

"Simply because you're pretty much cornered," the scientist said.

The leader of Star Fox watched as the Shadow Nightmare raised its pincers forward. The monster started to accelerate towards Fox. The vulpine grunted and turned around to escape from it, but as soon as he turned around, the Shadow Nightmare dove into the floor, creating a dark spot that quickly went all the way under the arches before leaping out in front of Fox, letting out a screech that made Fox cover his ears before turning around to run towards Peppita.

"Hang in there!" Fox yelled as he ran to them. "I'm going to get you out of here!"

Peppita screamed out of a sudden.

The vulpine looked confused at the Velbaysian's scream before he was pinned down by force on the floor, his body sliding a bit as the Shadow Nightmare was on top of him. Fox's eyes took a wild look as he glared at the monster menacingly before it stabbed its pincers right on Fox's back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Peppita watched in horror as Fox lifted up his head from the floor as he fully opened his mouth to scream painfully while the monster slowly entered his body. Soon, the Velbaysian saw the vulpine being covered in a dark blob that let out dark sparks. "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOX!!!" Peppita yelled loudly as she tried to break free from the net. "Let me go, you lunatic old man! Let-me-go!" she demanded loudly before the net opened up, letting her fall on top of the cage. "Oww..." she muttered once landing on her knees.

Dr. Eggman showed his teeth in amusement as he heard the screams of the adult character in the blob of darkness caused by the Shadow Nightmare. Peppita slowly got up from the top of the cage before she jumped down and ran to the blob. However, she stopped running once she saw Fox being spat out from the darkness as he landed painfully on the floor, grunting in a pain a bit as he closed his eyes.

"F-Fox!" Peppita yelled in relief as she ran to him and knelt down. "F-Fox, are you alright? Fox!"

"...Pe...ppita?" Fox muttered silently as he slowly looked up to see the sniffing Velbaysian. "...You're...okay...thank goodness..."

"F-Fox..." Peppita sniffed a bit and wiped her eyes with her right arm. "D-did you come here to..."

Once Peppita looked back at the blob of darkness, her eyes widened after staring at something else where the blob was supposed to be before. The leader of Star Fox slowly pushed himself up before looking at her.

"Hey...Peppita..." Fox trailed off worried. "Why are you looking like that?"

The memory suddenly hit Fox back as his eyes dilated. The vulpine slowly turned around to see an abomination standing in front of the 2 characters.

Dr. Eggman chuckled please. "Well, well, what do we have now? We've got ourselves a new special guest," he said before waving his right arm a bit to the right. "Please, I'd like you 2 to meet your new friend..."

Fox slowly shook his head in horror as he looked at the figure in front of him and Peppita...
"Heheheheheheh..." the figure before them chuckled as it crossed its arms amused. "Nice to meet you...my son..."

Peppita's eyes shook in shock as she stared at what looked to be a doppelganger that looked exactly like Fox. The only difference about this person was the fact that he was completely shrouded in darkness with glowing yellow eyes. However, this creature wore sunglasses that made Fox feel uncomfortable.

"..." Fox lowered his face a bit and glared at the shadow. "...Stop it..." he muttered. "I know for sure you're not my father..."

"Really?" the shadow asked as it imitated James's voice. "How do you know exactly that I'm not your father? I'm standing just in front of you, Fox. Accept me, please..."

"Stop it!" Fox yelled as he swung his right arm to his side. "You're not my father, dangit! You're supposed to be..." Fox closed his eyes and shook his head. "No...you're not..."

The shadow nodded and decided to take off his sunglasses, revealing his yellow glowing eyes as he stared at Fox. "Wow, at least you knew I was you," the shadow said before the sunglasses vanished in thin air. "However, do you truly believe I am you?"

Fox remained silent as he glared at his shadow while Peppita hid behind him scared. The Velbaysian moved her face to the left to look at the shadow.

"Pfft, of course you don't believe I'm you, that's why I'm here," Shadow Fox said as he crossed his arms amused. "You were responsible for my birth, after all. I suppose I should thank you as a real gentleman would do... Oh, that's right, you're NOT a gentleman at all."